Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Bane of Existence
by AllHailMario
Summary: After taking a mysterious job involving rescuing a human girl, a young Charizard rescue team leader finds himself having to stop a mythical, ancient beast from running amok in the world once more. What will he do with the girl he rescued?
1. Chapter 1: Aether

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is probably a bad idea. Writing this means that, at the current time I am writing this, I will be working on four stories at once. That will drastically slow updates for stories, but I just can't resist. If you've been reading one of my other stories, this may tell you why updates don't always come soon. The stories I'm currently working on are: "Infestation and Medicine?" for The Legend of Zelda, "Luigi's Mansion As Told By King Boo" for Mario, and "Blooper Mario Sunshine," also for Mario. Again, sorry for the impending lack of speedy updates.

Okay, now that all of that woe-is-me stuff out of the way, let me explain the characters of this story. Charizard is the main character for two reasons: #1, Charmander is the poster child for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, and #2, Charmander was, oddly enough, my first character. Feraligatr was my first partner, or rather, Totodile. Also, Charizard is named "Aether" because that's what I named my Pokemon, Torchic, in my latest game file. Razon, similarly, is the name of my current partner (who is actually a Chikorita, but never mind).

Does that clear things up? So, to the show.

--

"Hey. Buddy. Wake up."

A Charizard opened his eyes groggily. He was lying on a large rug in a dome-shaped house. The house had two sides: One was for the Charizard, which had some pits of fire to suit his needs, and the other side had a little pool of water for his partner, a Feraligatr.

The Charizard's name was Aether, and he was the captain of a rescue team. The Feraligatr, who was once just a small Totodile, had found Aether, who was once a Charmander, out in the Tiny Woods, conked out. It was after helping to rescue a Butterfree's son that Aether decided to help create a rescue team with the Totodile, whose name was Razon.

Of all of Aether's peculiarities, the biggest one by far was that he was once human. Remembering zilch of his past, he had been turned into a Pokemon for the sole purpose of saving the world of Pokemon from an impending meteor about to crash into the Earth. His memory had been erased to put him to the test. The spirit of a Gardevoir had found him capable, as a human, of saving the world. Aether hadn't believed this and had asked to be turned into a Pokemon to prove if he was really capable. Based on his voice and behavior, he had likely been a kid in his early teens.

Aether wasn't his real name. Since, of course, he didn't remember his real name, he had come up with it on the spot.

"What?" Aether asked, slightly grumpy, rolling over and looking at Razon.

"More rescue job offers. Sort through them with me."

Aether sighed through his nose and took some of the pieces of paper from Razon with his clawed hand. Aether's rescue team, Team Pyronight (also known as just Day of Fire, as Aether had insisted), was widespread in popularity. Pyronight was a Platinum-ranked rescue team, which was the fifth-highest out of seven ranks. Aether had once been falsely accused of being the one causing the Earth's impending destruction and had been a fugitive. Once proven innocent, that only boosted his popularity more.

"I'm sick of these errand boy jobs," Aether grumbled, finding the umpteenth "Heal Seed Wanted" request. "This is a rescue team, not a grocery store. I thought I told everybody that."

"You really are different, Aether."

"'S'at supposed to mean?"

"Well..." Razon paused, still sorting through the rescue requests. "When I first found you in the Tiny Woods, you were, I dunno, kinda timid, shy...you've grown up. Or something. You're Mr. No-Nonsense now. I kinda admire that, though."

Aether said nothing and continued sorting through the requests. He put a few in a pile beside him unofficially marked as accepted requests. Rescue requests weren't as steady rolling in these days ever since the whole big crisis thing had stopped and Pokemon had regained their sanity, but there were still some nutjobs who had decided to bungee jump the Silent Chasm without actually having a bungee cord.

"What's this?"

Aether reread the rescue request he had just seen. It had been written rather hastily--heck, they all were--by some Pokemon who was concerned for another. Only, the person the Pokemon was concerned for was a human being.

"Razon. Check this out."

Aether handed the request to the hulking alligator and let him read it. "'There's a human being attacked by some large beast! She looks really hurt! I...' Uh, it's pretty hard to read here...'I've never seen a monster like that!'" Feraligatr tossed it back into Aether's lap. "Sounds interesting. Considering there are no humans on this dang continent."

The whole entire continent Aether was standing on had rarely seen a human being, ever. It was strictly Pokemon grounds.

"Razon. Top priority. We're going to the Lapis Cave."

Aether sat up and marched towards the opening of their rescue team base. Razon hopped up into the air about half an inch and dashed after him.

"Hey! What about the other job offers?"

"They can wait."

"Is this because you feel a connection with the girl or something? Humans, and all?"

Aether hesitated. "Yes. I haven't had contact with a human since...well, I guess since I lost my memory." He stopped and turned toward Razon. "I'm kind of tingly. Plus, humans are humans. They don't...they don't spit flames or crush steel with their jaws." Razon glanced down at his iron-hard maw. "They're defenseless. I know this is sudden, but we're going."

Razon stopped and glanced back at the base. "Tell you what. How about I go back and take care of some of the other job offers, and you handle your mission? We can get things accomplished easier that way. Besides, I dunno if you want alone time or whatever."

Aether gave a short, simple nod for Razon to go back. Despite being a large, powerful Pokemon, he still had the same energy and high spirits he did as a small Totodile. Extending his wings, Aether hopped off of the ground and took off through the air at a hundred and fifty miles per hour.

--

The stones around Aether's feet shattered as he crashed down in front of the entrance to Lapis Cave. This was the first big stop he had gone to as a fugitive. Brushing the memory aside, he dashed in the cave, preparing to flame anybody that stood in his way.

"Ether!"

"Aether."

"Aether!"

A Nidorino had stopped right in front of the Charizard. Its eyes were wide and panicked. "You're that captain of that famous rescue team, right?"

"Right. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of trouble here involving a human?"

The Nidorino looked puzzled. "Human? I dunno about that, but some really, REALLY mean-looking Pokemon's wipin' the floor with whoever's dumb enough to go down to it. Oh, gosh. I haven't ever seen anything like it before."

"Were you the one who sent that rescue letter, then?"

"What rescue letter?"

"Forget it."

Aether pressed his wings against his back and dashed off, heading down through the Lapis Cave via large holes carved into the floor acting as slopes and stairways. As he got farther and farther down, the ground rumbled more, and loud roars could be heard. Aether set his jaw firm and ran even faster.

At last, he slid to a halt at the bottom floor. In the middle of the large room was a girl, possibly in her teens, lying on the ground, unconscious. A towering beast was standing over her, looking...hungry. It was a dark black color and had bright-red wings on its back. The outer rim of the wings were covered in spikes. It had two long tails that ended in spears. Those tails were, apparently, very prehensile, as they were curling and uncurling themselves anxiously. It stood on two legs like some sort of T. Rex.

"Hey, freak-show!" Aether shouted.

The towering dragon slowly craned its head over in Aether's direction and looked him right in the eye. This only strengthened Aether's courage, and he tightened his fists.

"Rather low to be picking on prey that doesn't fight back," he shot.

The dark beast lowered its neck, opened its jaws, and bellowed a loud roar that made the ground shake and some rocks fall from the ceiling. Aether leaped off the ground, stretched out his wings, and launched himself at the creature's head. He gave it a good punch that knocked its head to the side. The monster's response was to, quicker than an edgy Jolteon could time, grab him with one of its tails, slam him into the ground, and throw him against the far wall. He left a sizeable mark on the wall he had hit. The dragon lunged forward again. Aether opened his mouth and exhaled a steady stream of fire in a Flamethrower attack. The hot flames did no damage to himself as they flew through and under his teeth. The dragon covered its face with its wings, completely shielding itself from Aether's attack. It walked forward slowly, still holding its winged in front of it. Aether quit flaming the beast and flew into the air. In a swift motion, he dived onto the monster's back in a Fly attack, then scratched at the enemy using Slash. He got smashed in front of the dragon with another quick thrust of one of its tails. Before he could recover, the dragon had picked him up in its teeth and was biting down, hard. Aether let out a painful groan as the teeth protruded through his wings and into his back. As a last resort, he used a special technique few other species of Pokemon could learn; Blast Burn. Focusing all his energy on creating fire around him, he created three rings of ensuing explosions around him. Some of these, of course, blasted the inside of the monster's head, forcing it to let go of him and recoil.

"What is this thing?" Aether breathed, flapping his injured wings weakly.

He launched himself at the beast's head, crashing into it with his back. He let out a cry of pain as the bite marks on his back were hurt again. Before the dragon could attack again, he unleashed the rest of his energy into a final Flamethrower attack. The hot fire pushed the dragon backwards and knocked it onto its back. Aether didn't have the energy to fight anymore. So naturally, he was relieved when the dragon unsteadily rose to its feet and crashed through the cave, seeking an exit.

After a few minutes of the dragon not returning, Aether turned his eyes to the limp human girl lying on the side of the room. She was still unconscious. He walked over to her, put her on his back, and exited the Lapis Cave. Still not entirely sure what he would do with her, he flew her back to his rescue base and laid her in the shallow pool of water usually meant for Razon, her clothes still on. He looked at her the entire time, wondering how it was like to be a human.


	2. Chapter 2: First human in awhile

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Humans? Once-were-humans? Hidden, legendary Pokemon? Where is all this going? Well, you will find out...in time. ScytheRider has commented that he hopes I've got a good explanation for this. And believe me, I do. It will come in time.

--

"I had almost forgotten what a human looked like," Aether mumbled.

The girl still hadn't woken up yet. She had long, brown hair and an umblemished face. She was currently wearing blue jeans and a brown shirt, both of which were soaked from the pool of water she was in. She was very bruised and had a number of scratches and scars on her from that encounter with Mr. Big and Ugly.

Aether heard heavy footsteps behind him and turned around to see Razon enter the base.

"Hey, Aether." He turned his eyes to the girl in the water. "So, is that the girl? Are you just going to let her clothes get wet?"

"Figured it might feel good," Aether muttered. He bent over and looked her over. "She's been lying there for quite some time now. She'll probably be waking up any moment. I doubt she wants to see a couple of big beasties greet her, but what are you gonna do?" Aether motioned behind him without looking. "Grab a towel or something for when she wakes up."

Behind his back, Razon gave a sarcastic "Aye aye, sir," salute and grabbed a towel lying on the side of the room.

The girl's eyes slowly started to open. Aether tensed himself for when she saw the two Pokemon in the room. She stared at the ceiling for a little bit, probably asking where she was in her head. She looked down and found herself in a pool of water. More questions to answer. Then she looked over at Aether.

She gave a loud yelp of surprise and backed up, still on the ground. Aether didn't budge and still looked at her.

"Uh, buddy," Razon began, "I'm not sure staring at her all day's gonna make her feel better. How would you like it if I did _this_ every day to you?"

Razon widened his eyes and craned his head down to Aether's. Aether grunted and ignored him.

"She's taking this better than I expected," Aether said, standing up. "Which is good. I don't want to have some munchkin running around the base screaming her head off."

"Where am I?" the girl asked.

Silence. "Well, great," Razon sighed. "We can't talk to humans. Understand them, yes. Talk to, no."

Aether furrowed his brow. "I think I can." He turned at looked at the big Feraligatr. "I was once a human, you know. I think I still know a bit of the language."

Razon shrugged. "Go for it."

Aether turned back to the girl. "What's your name?"

She didn't respond, but looked rather puzzled. Guess it worked. "What's your name?" Aether repeated.

"G-Gloria."

Razon's eyes widened and a grin started to form on his face. "Well, slap me with a Magikarp and paint me green. I've never seen something like this happen."

Aether glanced at Razon for a brief second, then turned his attention back to the girl. "I'm Aether. This is my partner, Razon." More silence. The girl slowly stood up. "You're in my rescue team base."

"So, you were the ones that saved me."

"Hence the bite marks through my wings." Aether paused. "What were you doing in the Lapis Cave, anyway?"

"S-studying rocks." Aether cocked his head to the side. "I had heard about the cave and decided to check it out. I'm interested in rocks."

Razon suppressed a laugh. Aether ignored him once again. "What was that beast thing, exactly? I know a lot about the Pokemon and wildlife here, but that thing is definitely not found in your average nature guidebook."

"I was just collecting rock samples when that thing burst through the wall," Gloria explained.

Razon paused. "What, uh, what are we going to do with her? We can't just leave her here, can we?"

"For the time being, yes, I think so," Aether said, speaking in the Pokemon language again. "That means we'll need to find extra food, but I think we can handle that." Aether turned back to Gloria and resumed speaking the human language. "You are aware that you are the only human on this continent, correct?"

She nodded.

"So, you didn't come with anybody?"

She shook her head. "What _is_ a rescue team, anyway?"

"Just what the name implies. Pokemon get in pickles, we get sent in to pull them out of it. It hasn't be easy, though. Have you ever gone ninety-nine floors down ancient ruins just to explore what it's like?" Aether paused. "Back then, of course, Pokemon had lost their sanity, so we were being attacked like there was no tomorrow. Great treasures down there, though. About a million HMs. I swear I saw Mew a few times. It--"

A laugh behind him made Aether stop. Razon was laughing. "Sorry, it's just...first human in a long time, and who once wouldn't speak if you paid him is now...heh..."

Aether tried to suppress a grin but failed. "Sorry, Gloria. I haven't seen a human in years. Oh, do you want a towel?"

Razon stepped forward and handed her the towel. She took it and dried her clothes off. She was warming up to them quickly.

"I think maybe we should give you a little tour of the town," Aether concluded. "Come on."

--

As Aether guided Gloria into Pokemon Square, he had an immediate flashback to when Razon, as a wee little Totodile, was showing _him_ around after he first joined the rescue team.

"So...everybody here is nice. The Kecleon brothers to your left sell stuff. Mostly, it's just gadgets and gizmos and whatnot, but they've got separate items specifically for rescue teams." Gloria looked up at the big Charizard. "You need special money to buy it, obviously, but I have lots of it, so if you need something, ask." He walked over the small bridge and into the center of the square. "To your right is Kangaskhan Storage. That, too, is mainly for rescue teams, since we can store important items we don't want lost." He pointed to a Persian far off to the left. "That's Felicity Bank. It's where our money is kept. That Persian's a trustworthy person." He pointed down to a Gulpin in front of another building. "Linking shop. If Pokemon aren't too confident about their fighting skills, they can magically have their moves linked to use them at the exact same time. Makes 'em wear out faster, but they work. That Gulpin also patented the Link Box."

Gloria was looking straight ahead with a look that suggested she was dying to say something.

"You look like you want to say something," Aether commented, looking down at her.

"Well..." Gloria looked around. "It's just...how do you talk? I mean, human language?"

Aether slowed his pace down. "Nutty as it is...I was once a human being, same as you." Gloria looked back up at him. "This may sound a little stupid, but I was actually turned into a Pokemon to save the planet from an incoming meteor. Of course, it worked; that's why we're all still here."

Gloria leaned forward and looked at Razon, who was beside Aether. He shrugged and looked away, obviously wishing he could spill his guts about the whole adventure.

"What do you want to do?" Aether asked Gloria. "You may be here for awhile. I'm not sure where you're from, but you probably want to go back."

The human girl looked around some more, thinking. "My parents were killed before I even knew them. They gave me to a friend of the family, who was, well, a real science nerd. Like me." She grinned. "It was fun there. Still, it's the only life I've ever known. I'm really living on my own. I've grown up enough to Greg--the friend of the family I mentioned--for him to really make my own decisions. He trusts me."

Aether was filled with a slight bitterness. She didn't know her parents. He didn't know his life.

"So, at least for now, I might stay here awhile," Gloria concluded.

Aether nodded. "Hmm. So, uh, that's Pokemon Square. Up that road leads to Whiscash's Pond. Whiscash tells a lot of old stories and myths. If you're bored, go see him." Aether looked to the road opposite the path to Whiscash's Pond. "That path leads to the Makuhita Dojo. It's where Pokemon come to train. Rescue teams go there a lot. And finally, on the path straight ahead, there's the Pelipper Post Office. There's a bulletin board outside where rescue requests not specifically sent to a rescue team are posted." Aether walked forward. "I'm going to go check it out. See if there are any other jobs."

Gloria trotted after Aether. Razon walked forward slowly, following him.

--

"Garbage...garbage...mother lost her child!? Definitely taking that one...looks good..."

Aether was looking through the pieces of paper, choosing which rescue jobs to take. Gloria was admiring the Pelipper head-shaped post office, and Razon was sorting through some rescue job offers himself.

"How do the Pokemon get the letters to the post office?" Gloria asked after she was done ogling at the birdy building.

Aether was done going through the letters. He turned and looked at the human. "Well, sometimes, another person, like a friend, realizes they've gone missing and writes the letter. When it's just a single person in trouble...I think there are several dozen Alakazam placed here and there and everywhere that release psychic fields that teleport SOS letters to the post office."

Gloria picked some letters from Aether's hands and looked at them. They were all hastily written, and some looked a little weird ("I can't go any farther! Gasp! Waaaah!").

"Aether. Check this out." Razon held up a rescue letter. "'My son has accidentally wedged his head between two rocks. Can somebody help?' How many rescue points do you think we'd get for that one, two and a half?"

Aether glanced at the letter. "Better do it anyway. It's not that hard."

Aether turned around to find the curious little human being standing right in front of him. "Sometime," she said, "do you think maybe you can tell me the story of your adventure?"

"If you're ready for a snooze-fest."

Razon rolled his eyes. "Come on. It's not that boring. Lots of people actually like it."

Aether turned back to Gloria. "Alright. When we get back to the rescue base, the stories will fly. But, still...I've got to know about that monster that attacked you. I dunno if Whiscash or Alakazam could tell us. We'll do it later. Let's get back home."

--

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not sure how many of you from before noticed, but when Aether says "You are aware that you are the only human on this planet," I changed "planet" to "continent". ScytheRider noticed this, and I'm glad he did. Yes, it was a typo. I meant continent. Sorry.


	3. Chapter 3: Stories for everyone

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, here are some fun facts you might not have known about this story and my PMD game.

- In my first game file, I got my Charizard up to level 100 and Lucario Rank.

- I considered a couple other names for this story: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Aether's Bane and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Brother of Arceus.

- In my first PMD game file, I got to the 98th floor of the 99-floor Silver Trench and died.

- My first character and partner weren't named; they were simply called Charmander and Totodile.

Figured it might be cool to know. So, as they say, back to the show.

--

"You said you were a human being once."

"Yeah, I was."

They were back inside the Day of Fire's base. Aether was trying to recall everything that had happened to him on his past journey.

"I was found unconscious in the Tiny Woods by Razon." Razon waved. "A Butterfree went bananas, since her child had gotten lost in a big chasm that had opened up. Worse, the Pokemon were attacking her when she tried to go in. On this continent, Pokemon do not attack each other. So, Razon and I went off to find her child. We did, we got a reward, we formed a rescue team. We got a couple other strange job offers then, but the action picked up a bit when a team named--get this--Team Meanies came to be thorns in our sides. The child that the Butterfree had lost had a friend that was lost in the Sinister Woods. Both of us--Team Pyronight and Team Meanies--made our way through. We got to the Metapod kid first, but the other team decided they didn't want that."

"If you think their name is a little cuckoo," Razon pointed out, "know that they were also into world domination and trying to add to their numbers."

After Aether interpreted what he had said, Gloria looked like she wanted to laugh. Aether, back at the time, would have, too, if they weren't being so annoying.

"But, we saved the Metapod, and things went well for awhile again. All this time, I was still wondering how I had turned into a Pokemon. Shortly after saving a Shiftry from a very angry Zapdos--"

"You fought Zapdos?"

Aether paused and looked down at Gloria.

"You fought the legendary Pokemon Zapdos?" she repeated.

Aether nodded. "It was just the first in the annoying string of angry legendaries that had adopted a destroy-first-ask-questions-later policy. Poor Razon was at a disadvantage. So, we learned that someone who might know who I am and where I came from was in the Great Canyon. His name was Xatu. We mosied on over and learned that the human who had turned into a Pokemon was linked to the reason why the Earth's balance was upset."

"Wait a minute, Aether," Razon interrupted. "I think you need to explain about the Ninetales Legend."

Aether nodded. "Okay. I need to tell you about the Ninetales Legend before we go on. You've heard that whoever grabs a Ninetales's tail will be cursed for a thousand years, right?" Gloria nodded. "There was a human who _did_ grab a tail. But before he could be cursed, his partner, Gardevoir, shielded him and took the curse for herself. Ninetales pitied the human and wanted to ask him if he wanted to save Gardevoir, but the human had already fled in an act of cowardice and betrayal. Ninetales predicted that the human would later become a Pokemon, and...well...it happened."

Gloria frowned. "You weren't that human, were you?"

"Fortunately, no. It was actually Gengar, the leader of Team Meanies. He became a Pokemon, and the Earth's balance was upset. So, we met with Xatu, but Gengar must have overheard our conversation, since he reiterated the whole thing to everybody in Pokemon Square. He put the blame on us, and decided that, if the Pokemon who had knocked the Earth's balance around was gone, the Earth's balance would be restored."

Gloria's eyes widened a bit. "So, they tried to kill you?"

Aether sighed. "Yup. We were fugitives for awhile after that. But eventually, after tearing through Moltres and Articuno, who also attacked us without hesitation, we met up with Ninetales. Ninetales told me that I wasn't the human from the Ninetales Legend." Aether turned to Razon. "You should have seen his expression."

Aether had a flashback of the time he was on the summit of Mt. Freeze.

"You may relax, Aether. It is not you."

The moment Ninetales had said that, Razon's body had tensed up. He walked awkwardly over to Aether and started shouting and dancing all around him, overjoyed that his friend really wasn't the person in the legend.

Aether's flashback ended. "So, yeah. We went back to Pokemon Square to say we were innocent. We didn't have any proof, but everyone was tired of hunting us, plus they were convinced we couldn't be the bad guys. Pelipper from the Pelipper Post Office helped by showing that Gengar had lied to us all. But there was a bigger problem at hand; the screwy balance of the Earth awakened Groudon, who started causing earthquakes like crazy. Alakazam's team--a rescue team well-known around these parts--went down to quell it, but they hadn't returned. After a few failed attempts at sending some ultimate rescue team down, we all went. Razon and I squared off against Groudon, beat it, calmed it down, and went back up. But while we were all celebrating, the pieces of the puzzle came together. You remember Xatu?" Gloria nodded. "Xatu called us all using telepathy to tell us that the Earth's balance was being disrupted by an incoming meteor that would wipe us all out. So, Razon and I went up to the sky to chat with the only one who could destroy it: Rayquaza. It was at the top of the Sky Tower."

"And Rayquaza tried to kill you," Gloria finished.

"Of course. But we defeated Rayquaza and, at the last second, he stopped the meteor. We almost got killed, since it was so close when it exploded. But, we survived, and we celebrated."

Razon, standing off to the side, looked at the wall of the room with a sad look on his face.

"All this time, Gardevoir had been appearing in my dreams," Aether explained. "And she told me that after destroying the meteor, I would turn back into a human, since I was only a Pokemon to save the world. Razon was a little upset, which is an understatement. But I decided to come back here at the last second.

"And that concludes my story. Find it interesting?"

Gloria nodded. She was a mysterious girl, but she certainly had a curious nature.

Aether sat up and walked over to a basket with fruit in it. He took out a few Oran Berries and munched on them. He handed one to Gloria, who looked at it strangely.

"Uh...these berries are kind of big..."

"They're Effect Berries. Pokemon Trainers like to use these kinds of berries to heal and help their Pokemon in battle. These are called Oran Berries. Yes, they're big, but they're tasty."

Aether shoved two berries in his mouth at once and chewed them up in a few bites. Gloria was still working on her first berry.

"I'm going to go ask Alakazam and Whiscash if they know anything about your big, ugly attacker," Aether said. Gloria's face became sullen at once. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Gloria seemed to be mulling over whether to stay or not. She had a curious nature that made her want to know about everything, but surely she was exhausted.

"I'll stay here," she finally said. "I'm a little tired."

"I'll bet," Razon said, although all Gloria heard was a few grunts and roars.

--

"Alakazam! Hey! Alakazam!"

The meditating psychic Pokemon opened his eyes when he heard Aether call his name. He was levitating about a foot or so off the ground. He saw a Charizard dashing over to him. The teenage voice told him it was Aether, not his Charizard partner.

"Sorry for interrupting your Yoda time. But I need to ask you something." Aether stopped in front of him. "You saw the girl I was with, right?" Alakazam nodded. "Some big, ugly thing was attacking her. I brought her to my place, but that thing can't be a Pokemon. There's nothing like it."

"There might very well be something like it," the psychic Pokemon said. "What did it look like?"

"It was big, black with red wings...stood on two legs but was bent over like some carnivorous dinosaur...looked like a dragon. Very violent, I can tell you."

Alakazam looked down at the ground a foot below sadly. "Oh, no. And you came out of that alive?"

"No, I died. Yes, I'm alive. So, what is it?"

Alakazam looked around, likely mulling over where to start. "How much do you know of Arceus?"

Aether was puzzled. Arceus? What was that? A Pokemon? A place? Some sort of disease?

"No, I'll admit, I don't know anything about an Arceus."

"Not many people have. Arceus was a Pokemon with unbelievable power. Way back when it was first born, it created Dialga and Palkia."

"Okay, those I've heard of. A Pokemon honestly created other Pokemon?"

"It was that powerful. It took to sleep on a faraway place called Spear Pillar. It's not even on this continent."

Aether's brain was thoroughly frazzled now. "So, was I fighting Arceus?"

Alakazam shook his head. "No. But when Arceus was born, there was said to be another Pokemon born at the same time. Where Arceus used its powers to create and bring life, the other Pokemon used its powers to destroy and end life. The description of that Pokemon matches the description of the one you fought."

Aether furrowed his brow. "Where's it been hiding all these years, then? Just now, it pops up like an unwanted zit?"

"Just like Kyogre and Groudon fought and took to sleep, Arceus and the other Pokemon fought. Arceus won, and the enemy took to a long slumber."

"Wait, what's this thing called?"

Alakazam sighed. "Many things. Sometimes it's called the Brother of Arceus. In many stories and myths, it is known as the Bane of Existence. Its real name, however, is Nighvern. Arceus battled Nighvern and defeated it. Where exactly this battle was fought is not one hundred percent clear. Some people believe it was in the Great Canyon. Most are convinced it was in the Murky Cave, hence the dark, ghostly Pokemon looming around where evil once stood. But after careful examination, I believe it was near Mt. Blaze."

Aether's eyes widened. "Like, the Lapis Cave?"

"Was that where you fought it?"

Aether nodded. "According to Gloria--the human I was with--it just burst through the wall and attacked. Near the bottom floor, too."

"That would make sense. Myths state that it was fought 'where darkness crawls' and 'where heat abounds'--thus, some people mistook this for the deepest areas of the Great Canyon, which is a hot area. But it looks like the 'heat' was Mt. Blaze, and 'where darkness crawls' is in the Lapis Cave."

Aether looked around, thinking. "So, now this thing, Nighvern, has been awakened, and we're all going to die. How do we stop it?"

"Nighvern must have been tough when you faced it." Aether showed Alakazam his injured wings to show his answer. "It had just woken up when you fought it. It didn't realize its full power yet. So the next time you meet it, it will be stronger. You should prepare yourself until then. But if I were you, I would find Arceus. It was the only thing to have beaten Nighvern at full power."

"How do I reach Arceus?"

"Legend has it that it sits above Spear Pillar, but that one can only get to it by walking up a magical stairway. The myths often say that music must be played from an old instrument that Arceus itself created. Where and what this instrument is, I have no idea."

Aether nodded. "Alright. Thanks. I'll see about finding this Ocarina of Time, or whatever it is."

Aether turned and flew above the ground back in the direction of his base. He would rest for a bit, then decide what to do from there.

--

Aether entered his base to find Razon squirting Gloria with water. She was laughing and trying to splash it back at him. Razon noticed Aether standing there and squirted a tiny amount of water at him; too much would actually harm him, seeing as he was a Fire-type Pokemon.

"Ouch."

"Sorry."

Aether walked into the base, looking at the two soaked things. "Having fun?"

"Yeah," Gloria laughed. "So, did you find out anything?"

"Lots of things."

"By the way," she continued, "you said I'm the only human on this continent, so why isn't everybody, you know, leaping all over me, asking questions?"

Aether grinned. "I don't like being swarmed and drooled over, so they all go by my policies and don't give me too much attention. Believe me, if I wasn't with you when I took you into Pokemon Square, they probably _would_ have been leaping all over you."

Razon gave Gloria one last squirt of water before walking over to Aether. "What'd you find out?"

The Charizard shrugged. "Basically, an ancient evil has reawakened and walks this Earth, we go stop it."

"Come on, Aether. There's more to it than that."

"Its name is Nighvern, and it's known as either the Bane of Existence or the Brother of Arceus. Arceus is basically a strong, legendary-of-legendaries Pokemon that created Dialga and Palkia. Nighvern's like its brother or something."

"One of those good-brother-bad-brother things, then." Razon shook his head. "Great. The last thing we need is an unhappy family reunion."


	4. Chapter 4: Great Canyon

Aether sat down in between two burning pits, thinking about what to do next. He had no lead. Okay, so there was a big, mean Pokemon wandering around. He didn't know where it was at this point. He needed to find Arceus by playing a mystical instrument that he didn't know where it was, either. Alakazam had provided some background and interesting tidbits. Now what?

"Now what?" Razon voiced, flopping down in his pool of water. "Night-vern--"

"Nighvern."

"Right. Whatever. Nighvern was been awakened, so now where is it? You fought it and it ran off. Now what?"

"I was thinking of that myself." Aether stood up and began pacing around, which was how he got rid of excess energy and nervousness. "We need some magical instrument to find Arceus. We need Arceus's help to defeat Nighvern. Arceus is far away, and we don't know where the instrument is."

Razon snorted. "It'd be pretty funny if the ancient instrument was a rusty banjo with a broken string." Razon held his arms up and began "playing" a tune, acting as if he had a broken string. Aether threw a nearby rock at him. Razon laughed again.

"What are you guys talking about?" Gloria asked, sitting down in between the two Pokemon.

"What to do next," Aether replied, speaking in the human language again. "We need some musical instrument that time forgot or something to find a legendary Pokemon named Arceus. We need Arceus's help to defeat Nighvern, which is the baddie that attacked you. We don't know where it is."

Gloria looked at Razon, who shrugged. She turned back to Aether. "Doesn't anybody know where it is?"

Aether shrugged. "Whiscash, maybe. He's more of a storyteller than a historian."

"How about Xatu?" Aether snapped his attention to Gloria. "Isn't he supposed to be a Psychic-type that knows all sorts of things? Didn't he automatically tell you were human?"

"Girl, you are a genius."

"Happy to help."

Aether stood up and walked toward the base's exit. "Razon, we're going to the Great Canyon to find Xatu. I'm sure he can shed some light on the situation. You coming?"

Razon stood up as well and splashed out of the pool to join Aether. Gloria trotted up as well.

"You're coming, too?" Aether asked her. She nodded. "Alright. It's a pretty long way to the Great Canyon, though. If you ever get tired, crawl onto one of our backs."

Gloria nodded and followed the two Pokemon out of the base. They walked off together down south, going into desert territory.

--

"It's getting hot," Gloria slurred, resting on Aether's back.

It was true that it was becoming sweltering. Even Razon was sweating. It didn't phase him too much, since he was used to walking long distances and sweating a lot during rescue missions. The heat didn't bother Aether, since he was a Fire-type. He embraced it, but felt bad for the human girl, who wasn't used to such weather.

"Razon, can you cool Gloria off?" Aether asked. "Try not to hit me."

Razon squirted out some water on Gloria. Aether winced as several droplets hit him, feeling more like thumbtacks than water.

"Well, at least you can enjoy the scenery," Aether said.

"Or lack thereof," Razon corrected.

It was desert all around. They were standing on sand, and the occasional boulder was fond here and there. The sky was perfectly clear, allowing the sun to burn down on the three travelers.

"How far are we to the canyon?" Gloria asked, feeling better.

"Not too far. We're passing by a few neat locations, though. Far off to your right is an area filled with boulders and lots of Pokemon. You see the sand clouds swirling around in it?" Gloria nodded. "The place is wracked by sandstorms. It's pretty dangerous there. A while ago, we passed by those ancient ruins with Mew in them."

"There's the Great Canyon."

Aether looked where Razon was pointing. Sure enough, far ahead of them was a towering structure of rock. Seeing as they were in the desert, it was likely several miles away.

"Xatu is at the top," Aether said. "Once we get there, we'll start climbing."

--

"I'd like to come back here someday," Gloria said, picking up the umpteenth rock along the side of the canyon wall. "There are a lot of interesting rocks here."

"Like limestone and all that sort of thing?"

"Yep. I've found a few of those around."

Aether looked up. They were nearing the top, where Xatu was, always looking at the sun at the top of a cliff. (Razon always wondered how he could do that without his "eyes becoming jelly.")

"We're at the top," Aether said, dropping Gloria off of his back.

Aether strode over to the psychic bird Pokemon. It's torso looked like it was wearing some sort of vest. A feather-like object was sticking out of his head. "Xatu, we're back."

The bird turned around and looked at the young Charizard. "You are back, Aether and Razon."

"Isn't that what we just said?"

Ignoring Aether's response, Xatu turned to Gloria. "This human...she is the only human on this continent. She came from faraway. Her name is Gloria."

Aether looked at Gloria, who hadn't understood what was said. If she did, she would have been very surprised, Aether supposed. Xatu had guessed Aether's identity and human form when he had first met him, too.

"We came here to ask you a question," Razon filled in. "It's about some sort of mystical instrument that leads us to Arceus. We don't know where it is. We figured you'd know."

Xatu was silent for about thirty seconds. Aether hated it when he did that.

"The world...it has become darker," Xatu finally said. "The aura of the world...it is becoming covered in shadow. An evil has reawakened. Something must be done."

"Um, yeah," Razon said, becoming slightly annoyed.

"This evil was once with Arceus," Xatu continued. "They fought. They warred between each other for supremacy. The Pokemon of light won."

"Arceus," Aether translated. "So, Arceus won. We already know about that. What about the musical instrument?"

"However," Xatu continued, making Aether wonder if he had heard him at all, "the evil Pokemon has been reawakened from its sleep. It now runs free among the world. Only one can stop this."

"Arceus."

"You."

"Oh."

Xatu turned back towards the sun. "But you cannot do this alone, Aether. You must have help. Help must always be wanted. Or else the world will fall."

Aether clenched his fists. Xatu had a very annoying habit of beating around the bush for a long time before finally getting down to what they needed to know. He decided to just let Xatu talk himself out until he finally reached what he wanted.

"Arceus is needed. Arceus must be contacted. You must have his help. To do this...you must find the Azure Flute." Aether felt butterflies in his stomach. "The Azure Flute...it is faraway. Out of this continent. Out of the home you know. It is found in a distant region. Sinnoh, it is called. The Azure Flute is buried deep within that foreign world."

"Where in 'that foreign world,' though?" Aether asked.

"It is below the Earth's surface," Xatu continued. "It is below a small, crumbling tower. Malevolent Pokemon spirits infest this tower. Spiritomb, they are called. They guard this treasure, the Azure Flute."

Aether nodded. "Where's that tower?"

"I cannot see this. The crumbling tower...it is somewhere in Sinnoh. But I know not where."

Aether nodded again and turned to Gloria, who was thoroughly confused as to what was going on. "Well, we're going home," he told Gloria. "We found the location of the Azure Flute and all we need to know. I'll be leaving for the continent of Sinnoh soon. For now, let's rest at the rescue team base."


	5. Chapter 5: This is Humanity?

"You aren't leaving the continent _now_, are you?" Gloria asked.

Aether shook his head. "Heck, no. Tired. Need sleep."

A snoring on the other side of the room told him that Razon had already hit the sack. Aether tromped over to his spot between the two fire pits and curled up on the rug there, folding his wings in.

"So, what went on at the canyon?" Gloria asked. "All I heard was a bunch of gibberish."

Feeling sleepy, Aether said, "Well, he beat around the bush a lot--he always does that, and it's annoying--but he managed to say that the Azure Flute, which we need to reach Arceus, is somewhere in the continent of Sinnoh. It's under some crumbling tower or something infested by Pokemon called Spiritomb that guard the Flute. Xatu never knew where exactly the tower was, though."

"Spiritomb..." Gloria muttered. "I think I've heard of them. They were supposed to have been banished to a tower in Sinnoh for bad deeds done a bunch of years ago."

Aether laughed lightly. "You're a real science nerd, you know that?"

Gloria grinned and curled up next to Aether. "I'm fascinated by them. I'd go with you to Sinnoh to meet them if there weren't hundreds of them waiting to kill me."

Aether glanced down at the girl. "And I guess it's okay for them to gang up on me?"

Gloria almost apologized, but Aether said, "Joke. It was a joke. I could probably tear them all apart, anyway. Let's get some rest, because I have a big journey ahead of me tomorrow."

--

"Berries."

"Check."

"Seeds."

"Check."

"Apples."

"Check."

"Gravelerocks."

"Not as many as I'd like, but check."

Razon and Aether were going down a check-off list of things they were packing in their "toolbox," which was composed of several items that included health restoration and simple food for the road.

"What are you going to do about me?" Gloria asked, peering over at the check-off list over Aether's big shoulder.

Aether paused. He hadn't put too much thought into that. He had just assumed she would stay here, but would she be alright?

"If you stayed here," Aether asked, "would you be alright?" Gloria nodded. "There's a bunch of food lying around, and I'll give you some money in case you need something. Hopefully, I should be back soon. Razon will be here on occasion to give you company. He's staying to help in rescue job offers."

After Razon checked inside the toolbox, he shouted, "Aack! No Reviver Seeds! We need to get some before you hit the road!"

Aether nodded, then said to Gloria, "I'm going to be leaving now. If, uh, danger ever arises, seek out Alakazam's team, because they'll kick butt for you."

Razon did a kicking motion forward to emphasize Aether's point. Gloria grinned and plopped down into the water pool, watching and waving as he walked out of his rescue team base.

"Where are you going, as if I didn't know?" a familiar voice said.

Aether turned to see Alakazam, standing near the entrance to Pokemon Square.

"Well...to find the Azure Flute. You know, that instrument thing you mentioned. I know where it is...kind of."

"And where is it?"

"Somewhere in the continent of Sinnoh."

Alakazam nodded. "I'm going to give you some advice, Aether. Sinnoh is a largely human-populated continent." Aether nodded, unsure of where he was going. "Especially on Sinnoh, there are Pokemon Trainers. Pokemon Trainers are humans who catch and train Pokemon for themselves. If one were to catch you, your mission would be over. For this reason, I urge you to use discretion. A powerful Charizard is exactly the thing they want. Avoid humans at all times. Do you understand?"

Aether nodded again. "Thanks. I'll avoid humans."

And with that, Aether leapt up into the air, stretched his wings out, and rocketed off. After a few seconds, he came back and landed in front of Alakazam.

"Uh, where _is_ Sinnoh?" he asked.

After chuckling a little, Alakazam answered, "Sinnoh is northwest of us. From high up in the air, it shouldn't be too hard to find. To know it's Sinnoh, look for a large mountain range separating it in half."

Aether said thanks and rocketed off again, this time sure of his destination.

--

For awhile, Aether could see nothing as he flew through the clouds, using the sun's position in the sky as his compass to tell where northwest was. He saw the ocean below and the sky above. Occasionally, he passed by some other flying Pokemon.

Finally, a bit of land started to come into view. Aether got excited. He looked for a mountain range as the continent slowly started inching into view.

There it was. A long line slashing down through Sinnoh, separating it into two distinct halves. Grinning to himself, Aether aimed himself downward slightly and sped towards the shore of Sinnoh.

He was a little surprised to see several towns and cities dotted across the land. That was something he had never seen before, at least as a Pokemon. There were a few islands hanging around Sinnoh, the largest being northeast of it and appearing not to have any real major cities or towns. The sight fascinated Aether.

Finally, Aether crashlanded in a small spot...somewhere. He was now in a foreign continent with humans that cluelessly wanted to catch him, not knowing that if they did, their hope would practically be lost. He looked around and noticed a large house far off. Was that what was called a mansion? Curious, he crept forward a bit. He saw someone in one of the windows. Looked like a rich person. Unless that was how all humans dressed.

"Hey, look, a--!"

That was all the Pokemon Trainer behind Aether got out before the Charizard dashed off in less than a second, leaving the boy dazed. He snapped his fingers and went wandering off, looking for a wild Scyther.

"Whew...that was close," Aether said after awhile, setting himself back down and leaning against the tree. "So, where do I start? I can't very well question the humans here, can I? Maybe I should just look for 'a small, crumbling tower.' It shouldn't be too hard to find...right?"

Of course, it would actually be harder to find than he had thought. He wandered up the road in front of him, prepared to flee if a human approached.

A humungous city was ahead of him. It looked fancy. Fancy for a human's place, anyway. Then again, what did he know? Aether slowly inched forward, hiding behind trees and any other obstacles he could use for cover.

Humans were wandering around everywhere there. They were laughing, talking, shouting, even fighting. Was this what humans did?

"This is humanity?" Aether wondered aloud. His curiosity got the better of him, and he wandered even closer, drawn to the sight like a...like a Venonat to a light bulb.

Nobody noticed him. Aether decided to listen in to see if he could learn anything.

"I just got these cute shoes at the Veilstone Department Store!"

"Hey, c'mon, let's battle!"

"Nah, I couldn't challenge the Gym Leader. Not strong enough."

"I'm going to go for a walk in Amity Square. See you!"

Nothing made sense to Aether. Veilstone Department Store? Gym Leader? Amity Square? Nothing about small, crumbling towers, of course. He flew up high into the air and hovered way over the town, only visible to someone looking up and staring very closely. He continued to watch the humans, interested.

Aether took the time to analyze the buildings in the city. Most notable was the huge, domed one at the edge of the city. He wasn't sure what it was, but it had a certain air of dignity around it. Another building was oddly shaped from the others and had a brown roof with some sort of white ball emblem above the door. Another important building, he guessed.

Well, what was he doing, wasting his time there? He needed to find the Azure Flute! He'd search everywhere in the continent until he found it. Until he could come up with a better plan, he would stick with that.


	6. Chapter 6: The Azure Flute

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Criticism. I've been getting a lot of this lately. Criticism is good. I like criticism. It helps me write better stories. Unfortunately, I've been receiving this at an astounding rate, which does not help stress, and secondly, it's usually been pointing out small, trivial details that are easily answered. So, let me answer all of the criticisms that have been sent my way. (That will take some time.)

**I'd imagine Alakazam would have a little more of a reaction to the news of a 'great evil' awakening rather than calmly explaining it. Like getting his own team to investigate it too and not leave everything to Aether.**

When was the last time you knew Alakazam to flip out? Believe me, Alakazam was scared for his life, but he rarely ever flips out. As for Alakazam's team not investigating, I'm taking more the approach that the game did. Alakazam's team didn't seek out Rayquaza, Aether's team did. And when Alakazam and his team went down to quell Groudon, Aether's team decided to let them handle things. I'm doing what the game did.

**A little odd too that Aether remembers some human-like things (the Star Wars reference) but not anything about himself.**

That was called an easter egg. I was breaking the fourth wall a bit. I was fully aware that there is no Star Wars in the world of Pokemon. I was doing that for a laugh.

**Wait...Aether can talk to humans, right? Can't he just say "Dude, don't catch me, I'm trying to find this flute, can you tell me where this tower is?"**

Better safe than sorry. Aether was told to be discrete as a general rule to avoid any sort of conflict at all. Plus, suppose the human didn't believe he was saving the world, or that he really wanted a Charizard that badly.

**Also, if there's a Charizard just walking through the city, I'd imagine that people would assume it's already taken and wouldn't go nuts trying to capture it.**

Again, general discretion is the key. Any Pokemon could be in a city, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a Trainer's Pokemon. Finally, Charizard doesn't know how to react to humans, so being in the midst of them is a bit awkward for him.

**And Charizard has an abysmal catch rate, so wouldn't he just be able to bust out if a chance Poke Ball were to hit him?**

I'm not taking the technical things of the RPG games, like levels or stats or catch rates, into factor here. Aether will be hard to catch, true, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work.

**The chapter somehow makes it feel like Aether is a full Pokemon and not one who was formerly a human. Granted, he is a full Pokemon now I assume, but can he really not remember anything? He seems quite surprised by everything. Again, you may have to better define exactly when he can remember and what he can't.**

I am just repeating what is in the game. Aether remembers NOTHING of his human life. He is surprised and fascinated by humans because he wonders if that was how he once lived. Any other Pokemon would be mildly amused by watching humans, even if they had never seen them before.

**I'm not sure what Gloria meant with the 'hundreds of them waiting to kill me' line, but I assume it was about the Spiritomb. I'm wondering why he doesn't decide to just take her to Sinnoh with him.**

Yes, she was talking about the Spiritomb. And the reason Aether decided not to take Gloria with him to Sinnoh is that it is too dangerous. Spiritomb abound where he's going. Aether himself will face some big trouble with them later on, so Gloria, with no fiery powers or large amounts of strength and endurance like Aether, wouldn't last long. Aether was, however, wary of leaving her at his base, as he was afraid Nighvern might come back to finish the job. That was why he instructed her to run to Alakazam's team at the first sign of danger.

Sorry for taking up so much of your time before the story, but I had to explain everything. If you spot something you think you need to criticize in the future, make sure it is worthy of criticism, because they are often easily countered like the things explained above.

And so, back to the show.

(I believe ScytheRider said I used that phrase too much. It's actually my catchphrase on this site when finishing Author's Notes. That's why I use it so often.)

--

_My plan sucks._

That was about the only thing Aether could think. Search everywhere in Sinnoh for a tower? Sinnoh was huge! It would take him days to find it, and he likely didn't have days to reach it. Nighvern was growing stronger. Any second, the big thing could strike.

_If you want something, do it yourself,_ half of Aether's brain told him.

_What?_

_If you want something, do it yourself. These humans may be naive enough to hinder you, but you may need them._

_What do you mean?_

_Get the answers out of them._

Aether had a brief thought that he was crazy, arguing with himself. It did, however, work, so he continued to argue.

_You need to get the answer out of them,_ Aether's gruff side told himself. _They may want to catch you, but make it impossible for them to do that. You may need to use intimidation._

_I'm not fond of scaring humans to get what I want._

_It's that or let the world fall._

_Okay, okay! But I'm not going to pop out of the bushes and roar my lungs out._

_Just don't be too mild as to appear weak._

--

Aether pushed the thought of intimidating humans out of his mind for the time being. He decided that he might be able to see it from the air if he flew high enough. He hopped up and flapped his wings up and down until almost all of Sinnoh was visible.

He saw nothing.

"A _small_, crumbling tower," Aether reminded himself. He wouldn't find something small from way up in the air. He fell back down to the ground and thought about what to do next.

"Humans would know more about this place than I would," Aether reasoned. "Maybe I _have_ to question them. Here goes."

--

A twelve-year-old Pokemon Trainer was walking down a forested path. He had just passed by Mr. Backlot's mansion. It was a lovely sight, but he couldn't muster up the courage to go inside and tour it around.

A Charizard walked into sight in front of him. Normally he would have considered how good a Charizard might benefit him, but it started talking.

"Do not attempt to capture me," Aether growled darkly. "I am on serious business here. You draw a Poke Ball, and I get angry." The boy looked rather frightened now. Aether didn't like doing this to what he thought were once his friends, but he needed information. "I just need to ask you something, and then I'll be on my way. What do you know about a 'small, crumbling tower'?"

The first thing the boy did was stammer. Finally, he managed to say, "Well, there's the Lost Tower on Route 209. That's not small in my opinion, though. I-It's a scary place."

Aether considered that. Not enough info. He'd try again. "Alright, thanks," he said, and quickly flew off, looking for another human.

The boy stood there, a little shaken and wondering what had just happened to him. Maybe he had been daydreaming. After all, everybody knew that a Charizard couldn't talk.

_Dang, I hated that,_ thought Aether. He was mentally kicking himself for scaring the boy. He didn't mean to frighten him all that much. He wasn't on his knees pleading for mercy, but he was still very, well, intimidated. The boy was almost shaking. What if that had once been his brother? Or his friend? Or his cousin? Likely it wasn't, but he considered that possibility.

Finally, Aether found another human. This one was a girl, likely in her mid-teens. Less likely to be frightened, right? She was wearing glasses and looked smart. Maybe she'd know about what he wanted.

Aether swooped down past the girl and landed some distance in front of her. Aether spied her waist and noticed she didn't have any Poke Balls on her, when the other boy did. Did this mean she wasn't a Pokemon Trainer?

"Hey," Aether began. "Are you a Pokemon Trainer?"

The girl was a little stunned, but shook her head.

"Good," Aether continued. "You look, uh, smart, so I need to ask you something. Have you ever heard of a small, crumbling tower?"

The girl was mildly flattered about the remark of her being smart, but said, "I think you might mean the Hallowed Tower. It's near the Lost Tower on Route 209. It's so small, many consider it not to be a tower at all. Legend has it that it is infested with Spiritomb that come to the surface if one places an Odd Keystone in it."

Well, bingo. Aether wasn't expecting that. He stood there, shocked, for a few seconds. "Bless you, girl. You have made my day. I'm not entirely sure how to repay you besides making sure you don't die with the world." Realizing he had said too much, Aether quickly hopped off.

--

_Awkwaaard._

Aether wanted to go back and ask the girl where exactly the Hallowed Tower was, but he was somehow afraid of going back after telling her she might die along with everybody else. He decided he'd find out on his own where exactly Route 209 was. He headed back to the big city he had first seen. Surely there were signs, or maps, or something he could use.

Aether arrived on the outskirts of town and, indeed, noticed a sign stuck in the ground. He swooped down and read it, careful to stay out of sight of anybody. It told him that Hearthome City was ahead--that must have been the city--and that the route he was on was 212. Aether flew over to the right side of the town and checked the sign there. Route 209, it said.

Bingo again.

--

There were several people on Route 209, so Aether flew up above for the most part. He noticed a large, stone-built tower very quickly. The Hallowed Tower? No, it was very large and wasn't crumbling enough. Must be the Lost Tower. Aether looked around it and noticed what looked like a dirty pile of rocks. He waited for the general area to clear of people, then swooped down and landed in front of it.

The Hallowed Tower? There was a sign in front of it indeed saying it was the Hallowed Tower. But just like the smart-looking girl had said...it didn't look like a tower at all. It was about fifteen feet high with some rough stairs carved into them. Aether hopped on top and noticed a strange hole in the middle. Looked like something needed to be placed there.

Aether didn't have time to go treasure-hunting, however. The Azure Flute was _beneath_ the Hallowed Tower, right? That was what Xatu had said. Aether plunged into the dirt beneath him and dug away. His claws and strong arms helped him to dig a deep hole in no time at all. Still no sign of a flute or any ghostly Pokemon, however.

It took Aether awhile to finally make his efforts bear fruit. He had been digging for about half an hour straight. He was tired, dirty, and even bored. When he looked up, the surface was about a hundred and fifty feet into the air. He was that far down.

Aether's claw went down through the dirt and swiped...air. The rest of his body plummeted through and landed in a puddle. To him, it felt as if he had just landed on a bunch of jacks. He yelped and leaped out of the water so only his feet stood in the puddle.

He took a good look at his surroundings. It was dark. Very dark. A small amount of light shone in from the hole he had made, and the fire from his tail lit up a small area around him. Where were the Spiritomb? More importantly, where was the Azure Flute?

Using his tail to light the way, Aether walked forward cautiously. As far as he knew, he was in a big, empty, dark, puddle-filled room. Every so often, he'd step in a puddle.

Aether thought he heard something. He lit the areas around him, searching to see if maybe a Spiritomb was approaching. He heard the sound again. And again. It sounded something like a ghostly screeching, starting off quiet but getting louder.

Aether finally saw a Pokemon come into the light of his fire. It was made of a thick, purple gas and had shining green orbs floated around in a ring inside of it. A green, scary face completed the look. The purple smoke it seemed to be coming out of a smooth, brown stone.

Another Spiritomb came into view. And another. And another. And another. Soon, Aether was surrounded by what seemed to be hundreds of the things, all screeching in horrible glee as they found the first thing they could destroy in a very long time. They closed in quickly, surrounding the Charizard.

Aether leaped into the air to take off flying, but he was knocked down by a Dark Pulse move. Before he could get back up, more Dark Pulses came flying at him from every direction. Unable to move or get up, Aether realized that he might have gotten himself into more than he had thought at first. These Spiritomb were heartless enough to kill and enjoy every second of it.

Realizing that he had to fight back, Aether let loose with a Heat Wave attack. The long-range attack scorched many of the Spiritomb and made them stop attacking long enough for him to get back onto his feet. He unleashed a Flamethrower attack and slowly moved the stream of fire along, making several Spiritomb drop down and faint.

A Confuse Ray got Aether, and his vision became highly blurred and shaky. Spiritomb filled every corner of his vision. He couldn't tell how far they were to him or what they were doing. He felt immense pain as they dove onto him and began beating him around. He did another Flamethrower attack, but as far as he knew, he didn't deter the Spiritomb at all.

His fuzzy vision slowly started clearing. Able to see his enemy more clearly now, he used another Heat Wave attack, which knocked them off him. He looked around him. There were still about two hundred Spiritomb left. How was he supposed to get the Azure Flute when he was penned in from all sides by these strange Pokemon?

Blast Burn. That move was the most powerful move Aether could use. It required an awful lot of energy to produce, and usually left the user stunned and shaking slightly after use. The explosion wouldn't reach all of the Spiritomb...would it?

Aether gave it a shot. He put all of his power, strength, energy, and mind into charging up the Blast Burn move. He actually felt his energy seeping away from him as he charged it up. He started to glow a bright red as fiery energy swirled around him. When his power could rise no further, he let out the held-in energy just as the Spiritomb reached him.

The explosion was massive. The bang surely was heard above the surface. Light flooded into every corner of the room, driving back the darkness. Fire erupted all around him, knocking the Spiritomb every which way. The fire kept charging forward around the room until it filled up the whole place.

Aether, barely conscious, looked around him. The Spiritomb were all down. None of them were up and fighting. Glad to have survived, Aether collapsed and immediately fell asleep from the fatigue.

--

Aether slowly woke up. His eyes didn't see the inside of his rescue team base, but rather pitch blackness in the inside of a cave. He remembered what had happened to him and sat up with a jolt.

The Spiritomb were still there. They were all still unconscious, but he didn't know for how much longer. Aether checked into the bag by his side which held the various berries and seeds for his adventures. Starving, he pulled out an apple and munched on it gratefully. He noticed the shiny sheen of one of the last-minute Reviver Seeds he had packed was gone. It was now a dull, gray seed. A Plain Seed. Aether took that out and ate it as well. Finally, he pulled out an Oran Berry and ate it, recovering much of his energy and strength. Rejuvenated, he proceeded forward through the underground cave.

The Azure Flute was rather easy to find. There were no mazes or traps (aside from the Spiritomb attack, of course). After finding the exit to the big, empty room, it was just a matter of walking down a long hallway to a small, square room. It was lit with a light that seemed to come from the Azure Flute itself. It was resting on a stone pedestal. Happy that his adventure would be over soon, Aether walked forward and grabbed the flute.


	7. Chapter 7: Nighvern, Round Two

Aether stared at the flute strangely. Despite being tens of thousands of years old, there was not a scratch or a blemish to be seen. It shined even though there was precious little light in the dingy little room. He shrugged and packed the flute carefully into his bag.

A sharp pain in his back sent Aether flying forward. He bashed into the pedestal and was sent upwards into the wall. He whipped his head up, ready for battle.

He was astounded by what he saw.

Nighvern was standing in front of the pedestal, glaring at Aether. A million things rushed through his mind at once. _How did he find me?! Was he tailing me all this time? Is he here for the Azure Flute? What the heck does he want, anyway?_

With no time to argue and certain that Nighvern wouldn't answer any of his questions, Aether leaped up and let loose a Flamethrower attack. Nighvern shielded its head with its wings, then jumped up and slashed Aether, sending him down to the ground. Before the dark dragon could stamp on Aether's head, he rolled backwards onto his feet, then flew above Nighvern and began pummeling it repeatedly with the fiery part of his tail. The evil beast roared and knocked him off with a flick of one of its tails.

Before Aether could react, a wave of darkness crashed over him. He could feel nothing but pain, agony, misery, and fear. His vision went black, rising his panic level higher. He understood that the fear he was experiencing was not his own and that somehow, Nighvern was inducing this in him. Panicking, Aether flailed his limbs left and right and released several fiery blasts in no particular direction. Unable to see his enemy, he could not defend himself from many punches and scrapes from Nighvern.

Aether's vision started to clear, and he shoved the fiery end of his tail into Nighvern's belly. When the dragon recoiled, he seized the opportunity to fly up and punch its head as fast and as hard as he could. This merely seemed to irritate his enemy; no physical signs of immense pain showed on Nighvern, even though what Aether was doing would normally have knocked out an ordinary Pokemon. Nighvern bit down onto his legs and threw him into the wall behind him. Aether kicked off the wall and slammed into Nighvern, knocking him against another wall.

A ball of light energy fizzled next to Aether's head, causing him to flinch and look around. With a shock, he realized that the Spiritomb had recovered. _I can't fight both them and Nighvern!_ he thought. _Did I just come all this way to get demolished?_

He soon realized, though, that he wasn't their only enemy. They were attacking Nighvern as well. Dark Pulses burst all around them. Aether wished he could team up with Nighvern and fend them off like they usually did in the movies, but he knew that Nighvern was pure evil and would kill him anyway. Aether roasted several Spiritomb with a Flamethrower, then flew out of the small room and into the hallway, plowing through many more Spiritomb along the way. He heard Nighvern roaring and charging through the hall as well, destroying certain parts of the floor and walls with his strength and bulk.

Aether faced a dilemma. Going up for more light and room to fight and no Spiritomb would likely put the humans in danger. Staying down would make it easier for him to die. He decided to put his own life on the line to protect the humans. He wheeled around and faced Nighvern, who was preparing to bash into him. Aether attempted to leap over it, but both of its tails grabbed Aether and slammed him into the ground repeatedly.

The tails suddenly released Aether when he saw a Confuse Ray strike Nighvern right in the face. As much as he loathed the Spiritomb, he couldn't help but be thankful for their unknowing help. He used a Heat Wave to clear a circle around him, then leaped on Nighvern and breathed a Flamethrower into its cranium. Nighvern roared in pain and bucked savagely. Aether gave a few more good slashes and hopped off.

Now it was Aether's turn to receive a Confuse Ray. The room swayed like it always did. Aether lost his balance and fell to the floor. He saw Nighvern plant its foot right by his head, preparing to do something nasty to him. He attempted to struggle to his feet, but Nighvern grabbed him with its claws and dug them into him. Before the Spiritomb could attack the dark dragon, it threw Aether away and faced the Spiritomb.

Aether's vision was now hazy not from the Confuse Ray, for that had worn off, but from sheer pain and fatigue. Alakazam was right. Nighvern had gotten stronger. Aether's attacks barely did anything, and Nighvern was still going. And back when he had first fought it, it certainly did not use that cheap, dirty, blindness thing.

Aether watched as Nighvern single-handedly dispatched the surrounding Spiritomb. Some were heading off to Aether, but even those didn't stand a chance, as Nighvern would just put their lights out with a beam of dark energy fired from the mouth. Aether decided to rest for a few seconds while Nighvern fended off the Spiritomb.

A few seconds was all he had. Nighvern glanced back over at Aether, then leaped up and slammed onto him. Aether moved into the ground slightly, yelping as Nighvern kept readjusting its weight to squish him further. Aether used a feeble Flamethrower move which missed Nighvern completely. He felt himself being picked up and hurled into the center of the large room. He was helpless and defenseless as he watched Nighvern's shadow approach him. He was kicked over and wound up facing his enemy. Nighvern looked at Aether for a few moments, then charged up a ball of dark energy and blasted it at Aether.

The last thing Aether saw before he blacked out again was Nighvern making off with the Azure Flute.


	8. Chapter 8: Partners

Aether opened his eyes.

The room was dark, as usual. Nighvern was nowhere to be found. No conscious Spiritomb were in the room; for some reason, the rest had fled, probably to nurse their wounds or hide from the intimidating presence of Nighvern. Aether was lucky they were gone; he was certain they'd have killed him in his state of unconsciousness if they had remained.

Aether sat up, yelping at all of the aches and pains that suddenly sprang to life. _First the Spiritomb kick my butt_, he thought, _and now Nighvern comes and pretties things up. I'd better get out of here before a nuclear bomb gets dropped._

Aether half-limped back to the hole he had dropped down from. The hole was considerably bigger; that must have been how Nighvern got in. Judging by the dull, orange light shining through the hole far away at the top, it was evening. Aether gathered his energy, then leapt up, spread out his wings, and flew up the tunnel. He arrived out at the top and landed beside the hole. Nobody was around, but the air carried an unnatural quiet, as if something bad had happened.

And he knew what had happened.

His scars attested to that.

Aether growled as he realized he had not only been defeated and had the crap beaten out of him, but that he might have doomed the entire world to annihilation. Nighvern had the Azure Flute. Coincidence? What happened?

The weary Charizard sat down and decided to collect his thoughts. Nighvern had found him. Had he been tailing him? He found that highly unlikely; unless Nighvern was more adept at avoiding detection, which Aether wouldn't count out, he would have noticed a big black dragon following him. He had trained himself to notice tailers ever since a Skarmory had followed and attacked him for some reason. No, Nighvern couldn't have been tailing him; Aether guessed Nighvern had been looking for the Azure Flute himself, and his timing was both good and rotten. If Aether had gotten there a couple of hours later, Nighvern would have had the Flute earlier. But even so, arriving just in time for Nighvern to beat him up was also part of the bad luck.

And why would Nighvern want the Azure Flute? To challenge Arceus again, of course. What other reason could there be? The dragon couldn't have been happy about losing to its own equal. Aether seriously wanted to arrive at Spear Pillar before Nighvern and challenge him again, but in his current state, he was in no position to do that without being tossed aside like a pebble.

_Maybe I'll go back home_, he thought. _Heal...get some helpers, perhaps...of course, who would I get? There are no rescue teams or strong Pokemon around that I know of...._

Trying not to fly off after wherever Nighvern had gone, Aether turned in the opposite direction and flew back home.

--

Razon hated the quiet of the rescue team base. Yes, it normally was quiet there--Aether never said much--but without the big Charizard in the room, it seemed a bit lonely.

Gloria was there, of course. She and Razon had been playing with each other for awhile, squirting water and hopping on Razon's back. But even after all the playing around, things got a little old and boring. He seriously wished Aether would come back soon.

The flap of wings made Razon realize he had spoken a little too soon. What he did not expect, however, was the Charizard to come barreling through the doorway, still in flight, knocking off a chunk of the wall above the doorway. And on closer inspection, it looked as if a steamroller had gotten to him.

"Uh...." Aether looked up slowly, water dripping from his snout, having landed in the pool of water. Razon shrugged. "What happened? Why didn't you just, well, walk in?"

Aether's expression became darker. "Because my wings don't seem to work properly yet, that's why. I discovered I'm missing the very tip of my left wing, in fact."

Gloria, being a human, had not understood what Aether had said, but she certainly saw what he looked like. "What happened?" she asked.

Aether turned his attention to her. "I lost." The room became quiet for a few seconds. "Nighvern has the Azure Flute. He's probably making his way to Spear Pillar as we speak."

More silence. Then, an appropriate word from Razon: "Crap."

"You lost!?!" Gloria exclaimed. "What happened? How did you lose?"

Aether shook his head. "Because I was at the right place at the wrong time with the wrong amount of knowledge. First the Spiritomb ganged up on me, and I knocked myself out defeating them all. Then when I got the Azure Flute, Nighvern appeared and beat the stuffing out of me again. He's probably heading toward Mt. Coronet, which is where Alakazam told me Spear Pillar was. I don't think I can get to him in time."

"Well, you've gotta try," Razon said. "And I wish I could come with you, but I would get there in about five times the time you would take, and we'd get separated and waste time. And I know you, uh, got plowed, but we can't sit back for long."

"No, we can't," Aether agreed, still speaking in the human language. "I'm going to heal with everything we've got; Oran Berries, Sitrus Berries, herbs and potions, then rest and head off. Even if Nighvern reaches Arceus before any of us do, I might be able to stop him in time."

Gloria stepped forward. "Aether...do you think...I can come with you?"

"Of course not," Razon answered for Aether. "That'd be ridiculous. She'd get creamed, use up more time, and--"

"She can come."

"Of course she can! And then we--wait, what?"

"Gloria can come. I assume there's a reason for wanting to go, though."

"A number of reasons, actually," Gloria said. "First, I did, in a way, get you involved in this, so I'd like to finish it and feel like it's completed and that my debt to you is repaid. Secondly, I don't enjoy sitting here and twiddling my thumbs, because it's boring, and this is exciting. And thirdly...I'm slightly familiar with Sinnoh, so I can be of assistance to you there. Oh, and fourthly, if you need to talk to humans, you've got me to go up and talk safely instead of creeping people out with a talking Charizard."

Aether nodded. "Good points. And besides, Razon, we were really young and actually rather inexperienced, too, when we first set out, yet look what we did."

Razon didn't look happy, but he said nothing. Aether looked at Gloria. "We'll be leaving tomorrow. I'm going to rest up and heal my wounds in every possible method. You should get some rest yourself, because there aren't many hours left in the day at all."

--

It was morning of the next day. Aether and Gloria stood at the entrance of the rescue team base. Aether still ached, but he had managed to buy and eat as many Oran Berries and Reviver Seeds (just in case) as he could and ask a Meganium living nearby to use Synthesis on him to help heal him. He had also squeezed in as many hours as he could of sleep, although he was still extremely tired and felt like sleeping for another few hours.

"You probably should," Gloria had said. "You're going to need your rest."

"If we spend any more time here, Nighvern will have finished doing whatever he's doing."

"Our mission is simple," Aether said. "Find Nighvern, retrieve the Flute hopefully without too much of a scuffle--although I'm not sure how that's possible--find Arceus, beat the blazes out of Nighvern. ...Yeah, simple. Okay, get on my back, and we'll be off. And watch out for the fire on my tail, because it's hot in case you haven't noticed."

As Gloria climbed onto his back, Razon watched them prepare to depart. "Well, come back in one piece," he said, "and if you die, I'll kill you."

Aether smiled at his friend's joke. "I'll be sure not to die. Take care of things here. Save kittens from trees. Help little old Pokemon across the street. Do what you usually do. Gloria, is there anything else you need to do before we go?"

She shook her head.

"Good thing I can hear your head shake," he replied sarcastically. "Okay, we're off. Bye, Razon."

Aether leaped off, his new partner on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold on. They flew off back towards Sinnoh to confront their enemy.

"Aether?" Gloria yelled over the wind. "I have to go to the bathroom."


	9. Chapter 9: Chaos Reigns Again

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have finished making plans for the sequel to Bane of Existence. I really do like the sequel; I think it'll patch up all the holes in this story. For one thing, Bane of Existence will only have about fourteen chapters, but Fusion, the sequel, will have a whopping thirty-three. There will also be a deeper storyline, a ton more action, and to top it all off, Aether's shrouded past will finally be revealed.

--

"You're hurting my wing."

"Sorry."

They were still flying low over the waters, heading for Sinnoh. Aether was deeply troubled by how things might turn out; he still ached everywhere, and he had to be in absolutely top condition if he hoped to take the Flute back from Nighvern. He could picture the scene in his head: Aether, dwarfed by Nighvern's size, standing in front of him, poking him in the chest, saying, "Hey, mister, you'd better give that Flute back." And then he would go through the wall and leave a Charizard-shaped print on it. Just perfect.

"Are you thinking bad things again?" Gloria asked.

"How'd you guess?"

"Because every time you do, you start to lower into the water."

Aether raised himself up a bit and continued flying into the night. "I'm just worried by the outcome. I don't feel peachy right now, and every time I fight Nighvern, it's like he brushes off my attacks and then beats me in just a few moves. Those Spiritomb never helped," he added bitterly, spitting a fireball into the water and watching it dissolve into smoke.

"You'll be fine, I know it," Gloria assured him. When Aether didn't look convinced, she added, "I mean, think about it. You've been in worse situations, right?"

"Not really."

"You told me yourself. You climbed up the Sky Tower, beaten and bruised, and still managed to defeat one of the toughest Pokemon in existence. With a meteor preparing to crash down on your head."

"That was a bit different," he stated. "Rayquaza was one of the most powerful Pokemon in existence, but Nighvern is probably _the_ most powerful one. And I feel a lot worse than I did then."

They were silent for a bit. Finally, Gloria said, injecting a bit of optimism, "Well, we know that Arceus defeated Nighvern once. I'm sure he can do it again. Even if you don't make it in time to aid him, I'm sure Nighvern will go down."

Aether nodded. "There is hope there, but there's still a piece I think you're missing. When Nighvern just woke up from his long slumber, he was weak enough for me to send off pretty easily. The next time I fought him, he was almost invincible. Arceus has been asleep for awhile and hasn't gained all his power back like Nighvern has. He'll be a whole lot weaker when Nighvern just challenges him on Mt. Coronet. Which is why I have to reach him soon, but I think it'll be too late. Nighvern left ages ago, and I'm not even in the same continent yet."

Aether wobbled suddenly. He was unbelievably tired. "I'm going to find a little spit of land or something, because I don't think I can fly for too much longer."

After a few more minutes, Aether found a tiny bit of raised, wet sand. He landed on it running, since he was too tired to control his wings properly. Gloria climbed down, found a dryer spot than the others, and laid down. Aether curled up next to her, the fire on his tail keeping her warm.

--

Gloria awoke with the feeling of wind on her face. It was certainly not a pleasurable way to wake up; she almost walked off of Aether's body before she realized they were in the air again. Aether seemed to garner some amusement from that.

"How long have you been flying?" she asked groggily.

"About half an hour. Not long. The fact that we found a tiny little sand bar might mean that Sinnoh is close." Aether turned his head and looked at her. "You're a heavy sleeper. There were Mantine swarms and everything, making all sorts of loud noises."

"I missed some Mantine?" Gloria was really too sleepy to feel too concerned.

"They're not quite as rare as you'd think. I've seen--"

That was all Aether managed to say before a Hydro Pump got him.

Lights burst before his eyes. He found it very hard to get his body to respond to him. He felt confusion; who on earth would have wanted to harm an innocent passerby?

It was only when he heard high-pitched screaming that he realized Gloria wasn't on his back anymore. He steadied his wings and looked around. Gloria was falling towards the ocean. Worse, the Wailord that had apparently attacked him was going after her. Without pausing to think, he dived at Gloria and caught her on his back right before she went into the water. A deafening splash behind him alerted him to the Wailord leaping out of the water for him. He darted off before he could suffer more damage.

"What happened?" Gloria shouted.

"A Wailord attacked us," Aether answered. He flew high into the sky to avoid more encounters with angry Water-types. "Huh," he said. "Wailord are supposed to be incredibly peaceful Pokemon. They give other Pokemon lifts sometimes. It doesn't make sense, why it would attack."

"Maybe it was just angry," Gloria suggested.

"Wailord don't attack whatever's closest to them just because they get mad. There has to be another reason behind it." Aether shook his head. "The last time something like that happened to me was when...."

Another flashback. Aether and Razon, both very young at the time, in a dark, watery place. They were hemmed in by all sorts of Water-types. Even the giant Wailord were there, hoping to defeat the two intruders. The Charizard and Feraligatr got ready to battle.

Yes. The last time that happened was shortly after the falling star was destroyed. Pokemon were slowly coming back to their senses, so they still attacked without provocation. The world's balance had been upset.

The world's balance....

Hmm....

"I think maybe I have it," Aether said after awhile. "The last time something like that happened to me, the world's balance was still screwy. It's possible, maybe, that Nighvern's revival has unbalanced the world yet again. Just because a big evil is walking this earth again."

"Is this what life was like long ago?" Gloria wondered. "Pokemon attacked each other because they felt like it? No wonder Arceus decided to put a stop to it...."

Sinnoh came into sight within a few minutes. It didn't take very long after that to reach the continent yet again. Aether landed on a beach with no one around. Gloria hopped off and paced around in the sand.

"The first thing we should find out is where Nighvern is," Aether decided. "That will be your job, Gloria. I don't want to start scaring people again. We might as well start in this tiny town. Find out what you can, then report back to me on the beach."

--

Gloria wandered into the town cautiously. If memory served right, this was Sandgem Town. A wise professor lived here; might he know something? Some people were out and about, but Gloria didn't know where to start.

The sounds of fighting alerted her to a scuffle on her right. She walked quickly in that direction, hoping to find something important. She saw a boy, no older than twelve or thirteen, being attacked by a Starly. From what she understood, Starly were generally very small and weak, but the boy had no hope of escape from it. Gloria ran up and attempted to scare the bird off. It backed up a bit, then flew forward at her. Before it could attack, it disappeared in a burst of red light.

"Thanks," the boy said. "That was my own Starly. I knew it would come, I knew it would, I'm just glad I don't have an Infernape...."

"Knew what would come?" Gloria asked, helping him up.

"The whole crazy Pokemon thing," he stated. Gloria pretended like she had no idea what that was and pressed him for more information. "For whatever reason, Pokemon everywhere are starting to become more aggressive. Pokemon are attacking their own trainers...like my Starly. I used to feel bad that I didn't have a wide variety of powerful Pokemon, but now I'm starting to think I'm lucky."

"Why do you think they're attacking?" she asked politely. "Is there something happening elsewhere that might trigger it?"

He shrugged. "Nope. Not that I know of. I do know that some Pokemon is rampaging around Stark Mountain and that _nobody_ is allowed around there with few exceptions." Gloria listened intently, trying to act casual. "Of course, I assume that Pokemon just went crazy, too, but people are saying it's probably an undiscovered legendary, because nobody's seen it before."

"What does it look like?"

"I couldn't tell you, but they say that nobody messes with it."

Gloria asked him if he was okay again and offered to help him to his house. When he said he could get there by himself, she dashed back to the beach as fast as she could. Aether wasn't there. Clearly hiding should anyone come out.

"Aether?" she called.

Snapping sounds from the trees to her left told her that Aether was coming out. She turned and greeted him.

"I think I know where Nighvern is," she said. She made a face. "But it doesn't make much sense. Nobody's allowed on Stark Mountain because an undiscovered legendary Pokemon is rampaging around there."

Aether thought for a bit. "There are two possibilities for that," he said. "One, it isn't Nighvern, it's just an undiscovered legendary throwing a tantrum. Or two...." Aether smirked slightly. "Two, it _is_ Nighvern, but he just doesn't know which mountain is Mt. Coronet. It's been kind of awhile since he last saw the place. It's too bad he doesn't have a little spy with him to talk to humans," he said, nudging Gloria with the side of his tail. "Climb on; we're heading to Stark Mountain."

--

It took a great deal of flying to finally reach the mountain. It was nighttime by the time they got there. They took a one-hour nap to recover just a little of their energy before heading into the volcano.

"Normally, I'd leave you out here while I go in and kick butt," Aether said, "but Pokemon are going crazy, and I couldn't risk a Rhydon finding you and tearing you to pieces."

They had already had to deal with a number of insane Pokemon, which Aether had fled from rather than fought to conserve energy needed to fight Nighvern.

"Now, all we really need to do is take the Azure Flute from him," he said. "I don't think I stand a chance against him alone if I try to defeat him, so we'll settle for snatching the Flute and getting out of there. Are you ready?" Gloria nodded. "Good. Let's go."

Gloria climbed on, and Aether took off in flight. It would only take a few minutes to reach Stark Mountain. Then, it was just a matter of finding Nighvern. Or letting Nighvern find him.

But unfortunately, the angry Pokemon around the mountain wouldn't make that easier. As soon as Aether flew off, the cries of several dozen Skarmory broke the silence of the night. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by more steel birds than he could count.

"Well, this is bad," Aether muttered. "Grab onto me as tightly as you can." He burned one Skarmory using Flamethrower, then dove downward. The Skarmory followed him. He roared in pain as several steel feathers sliced him. He burned a few more, putting them out of action with his type advantage, then flew upwards before he hit the wall of the mountain.

A Skarmory attached itself to him, anchoring its talons in his body, and began attacking. He plummeted quickly. More and more Skarmory flew at him, attacking. He jabbed the one on him with the fiery end of his tail, then wrapped his tail around it and hurled it at another Skarmory. He began the flight upwards again, toasting enemies that came too close. He ignored Gloria's screaming behind him as he flipped over and spun several times to avoid attacks.

They were finally at the summit. He smacked another Skarmory behind him with his tail, then dove into the crater of the volcano. He was now a step ahead of the Steel-type enemies, leaving them behind him. He entered through the crater and immediately felt the temperature rise. It wouldn't bother him as much as it would bother others, but he still didn't think that the Skarmory would give up and leave.

He ducked behind a corner, which gave them about half a second without being seen. He noticed a hole in the cave wall and flew into it, going as far as he could. He crouched and hid his flame tail so it wouldn't alert any of them to his presence. To his relief, they all flew by, clueless of their prey hiding in the hole so close to them. Aether sighed; things were not going well at all.


	10. Chapter 10: Stark Mountain

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Aw, man. I would have added this chapter a day earlier, but I accidentally hit some combination of keys and made it so that when I hit Enter, it left two spaces instead of one. I hit random combinations trying to get it back to normal, and when I looked back, suddenly half the chapter was missing!! Yeah, maybe not the brightest idea, but I couldn't do much about it besides type it up again.

--

"How fast can you fly?" Aether muttered to himself from inside the small cave. "How hot is your flame? How solid is your resolve?"

"What?" Gloria asked.

"Nothing, I'm just going schizophrenic. Meet my friend Bob."

Aether and Gloria had a brief chuckle. Aether's expression turned serious again.

"This isn't going to be as easy as I thought it was," he said. "Before I came here, I thought it was a basic swoop-in-grab-the-spoils-and-go mission." He sighed and grinned slightly again. "I really am rash and hasty, aren't I? I know it's just the way I roll, but it's going to kill me one of these days." He glanced out the cave's entrance. "Take a look out there."

"Are the Skarmory still out there?"

Aether peeked his head out. "Nowhere to be found. Now look."

Gloria reluctantly stepped around Aether's large foot and took a look around. Hot smoke was rising from the volcano and obscuring most everything. The ground was black and rocky. And the air was very, very hot. Naturally, Aether didn't seem bothered by it, but he knew that he couldn't keep Gloria in there long.

"It looks like the crappiest place on Earth," Gloria said. "What did you want me to see?"

"That it was the crappiest place on Earth. Parts of the ground look unstable, like they might fall in on themselves if just a little pressure were to get on them." Aether pressed his foot onto the cave's edge and knocked off a chunk of rock to show what he meant. "Deeper in, we'll find magma. And Pokemon the size of Mt. Thunder. And then we'll find a big black dragon who wants me dead. You see my point. So let's sum it up. First, we get chased around by a bunch of Skarmory for no particular reason. Then we spend a whole lot of time wandering around in, like you put it so well, the crappiest place on Earth. Maybe step in a magma hole or two. Then we'll find Nighvern and have to fight him."

Aether's thoughts turned to "sleeping" Pokemon. He was beginning to understand now. After long and hard battles, legendary Pokemon took to sleep to preserve power and energy and to stay alive. While sleeping, their power shrank and shrank until they were practically easy prey for Pokemon like Aether. That was why, back in Lapis Cave, Nighvern hadn't been nearly so tough, and if he hadn't run off during the middle of the battle, Aether might have ended the whole ordeal right then and right there. But when sleeping Pokemon woke up, their power slowly returned to them. Underneath the Hallowed Tower, Nighvern had been nearly invincible; a sure sign that he was regaining his power. And yet, he wasn't even at full power. Arceus was still sleeping. That meant that if Nighvern got to Arceus first and woke him up, he would be able to polish him off with ease. But if Aether somehow managed to get the Azure Flute back, race to Arceus, wake him up beforehand so that he could recover some of his power, no matter how small, and aid him during the big battle...they might have a chance.

But then, there was the problem of getting the Flute in the first place. There was no way he could just swoop in and snatch the Flute, then fly off. Like Nighvern would sit back and let that happen. Aether was weaker than usual and Nighvern was stronger than before; Aether wondered if he could even penetrate Nighvern's skin with his claws or fire. And if Aether _did_ manage to take the Flute, Nighvern would give chase. It wasn't exactly that easy.

"Even if I do get the Azure Flute back," Aether said, "it brings us back to my schizophrenic mutterings: How fast can I fly away from Nighvern when he chases me? I'd bet he's faster now. But still, we have to try. The longer Nighvern's alive, the sooner the world's going to be destroyed." Aether turned to Gloria. "But enough whining. Let's go see about saving the world."

Aether was about to let Gloria get onto his back when he realized something. "It's not exactly the safest place here," he said. "You should probably stay here." Gloria scowled at him. "Nighvern's going to be really, really dangerous, not to mention the rest of the volcano. I can take a beating, but you can't. Stay here."

So that he couldn't hear any protests, Aether leaped off the edge of the cave and unfolded his wings. Nighvern was in Stark Mountain somewhere, and Aether planned to walk away with more than he had when he started.

--

An hour or so later--actually, it could have been three or four hours, it was impossible to tell time in the middle of a volcano--Aether found what he was looking for.

The trek through the volcano had been very dangerous. More than once, Aether almost fell into a pit of boiling magma by stepping on unstable ground. It was extremely hot where he was; almost too hot for him. He had braved rock slides, spewing fountains of magma, and a number of Pokemon which he mostly ignored. When he found the trail of destruction--unconscious Pokemon, gouged walls, and, of course, humungous footprints--he knew he was on the right track. He followed the trail until he caught up with his enemy.

Nighvern stared hatefully at Aether. He could have sworn Nighvern grew considerably in the small amount of time since they last encountered each other. It wouldn't surprise him much, either.

"Well, hey, you annoyingly-evil monster," Aether greeted. "I guess I don't need to say I've been looking all over for you."

Nighvern responded with a short roar.

"What's the deal with trying to take over the world, anyway? It seems like every time I turn around, there's a nut into world domination. Why can't you just accept that we need to leave in peace?"

Nighvern got into an aggressive fighting stance.

"If you want to fight, then go ahead. Let's fight."

It became apparent very quickly that Nighvern's power had almost doubled since their last encounter, and even then, Aether almost couldn't touch him. Nighvern dove at Aether, who almost didn't leap out of the way in time, and swiped at the wall Aether had been in front of. Not only did it crumble as if made of wet toilet paper, but the pieces went soaring in every direction. Nighvern picked up a nearby boulder with no visible effort, then hurled it at Aether. This time, it connected, and Aether soared across a small pond of magma and into a wall. The boulder had gone much too fast to dodge.

And then there it was. The reason Aether had followed Nighvern to Stark Mountain. The Azure Flute was nested tightly in Nighvern's right palm.

--

Boredom. Total, complete boredom.

Worry, too. And irritation. And too much perspiration.

Gloria was feeling all four of these things. Aether had left a looooong, long time ago, and Gloria had no idea whether he was dead or even found Nighvern yet. Not only did it not feel right sitting and doing nothing, but the boredom was really getting to her. She wasn't sure how she could help Aether--throwing rocks at Nighvern clearly wouldn't work--but she wanted to do _something_.

She had a wide knowledge of rocks and was very interested in them. She was especially interesting in legendary stones and treasures. If she remembered correctly, there was one such legendary stone right there in Stark Mountain. The stone had very little power itself, but wasn't there a powerful Pokemon connected to it? Might that Pokemon help Aether in battle? It was a risk, though. Suppose Aether came back after she left and had to search the entire volcano for her? And then he'd either chew her out when he found her or die. And then there was the risk that Gloria would accidentally fall into a pool of magma and kill herself. And what if the legendary Pokemon didn't _want_ to help anyone? What if Gloria died from it?

Against her better nature, Gloria stood up and began to climb down the cave's edge.

--

_Power like this shouldn't be possible,_ Aether thought. _Arceus had better be tough as nails. Very, very sharp nails._

Nighvern had only gotten in three hits. The first hit was the boulder thrown at blinding speed which knocked him into a wall. The second hit was a blast of dark-colored fire, and the third was a tail grab that smashed him all around the room, then threw him into yet another wall. And yet, those three hits nearly incapacitated him.

Aether released a torrent of fire from between his jaws, which blasted straight into Nighvern's head. The big, black dragon looked annoyed rather than in pain, as if there was a bug hanging around him that wouldn't go away. Aether jumped at him and smashed his head with his fist. The move might have knocked out any other Pokemon, but Nighvern wasn't any other Pokemon. He growled rather than roared like most other Pokemon would, then slammed Aether with his massive tail which was too fast to dodge. He was knocked across the stone floor and slid a bit before coming to a stop.

_The Azure Flute,_ Aether thought to himself. _Just grab it and go. Don't start fighting him._

He stood up unsteadily, trying to strategize the best way to deal with the monster. Would tricking him work? Pretending to fly in one direction, then swooping around to the other? He decided to give it a try. He fly at Nighvern, pretended to divert to the left, then instead ducked down and went right. It worked; Nighvern swiped at Aether, but missed when he went down. Aether tried to pry the Flute from him, but its grip was iron tight.

That definitely seemed to make Nighvern angry. The last thing it wanted to do was give up the Azure Flute. It roared angrily, then charged at him. It had gotten much faster; it had crossed the other side of the area in just a few steps. Aether charged up fiery energy, then exhaled a fireball at him. Nighvern flinched and slowed slightly, but didn't stop. Aether jumped out of the way but collided with Nighvern's tail. With the wind knocked out of him, he laid on the ground, limp.

--

Through Gloria's understanding, the stone she was looking for was deep inside Stark Mountain, but not so deep as to be dangerous for humans to venture. From what she remembered, many people had seen it themselves. Pokemon Trainers, mostly, but she didn't think it would make a whole lot of difference. Somehow, she needed to find the naturally carved out path that led to a maze, which, in turn, guided one to the stone. So she had read, anyway.

She was outside the volcano. There was an entrance at the base that anybody could access (so long as they braved the arduous and ash-covered journey to it, but fortunately, Gloria was already there). She turned a rocky corner and found the gaping hole a good distance off. She began to climb down carefully.

Her foot slipped off the edge, and she caught herself before she could fall much further. Her hand was on a ledge sticking out, and that was the only thing that saved her. She took a few deep breaths, then pulled herself up and continued her climb down.

The entrance got closer and closer until, finally, she hopped down in front of it and looked back up where she had started. She had come a long way. Now, she needed to concentrate on finding that stone and, hopefully, getting the big Pokemon to appear. She saw the big, stone maze in front of her and prepared herself for a long journey.

--

Aether was now keeping his distance. Staying close to Nighvern was a mistake; he'd learned that much. Still, Nighvern was a threat even when far away. He'd already pulled the whole dark-vision thing again, which had gotten Aether angry enough to gain back some of his energy. From what he saw, the dark-vision could only take place if the victim stared at Nighvern's eyes long enough. Well, easy; Aether wouldn't stare at his eyes. But that still didn't eliminate energy blasts, fire, and a huge monster chasing him around.

He knew that he should have taken _some_ help, at least. Maybe he could distract Nighvern while the other Pokemon snatched the Flute from him. But it was a bit late for that now. It still wasn't too late to retreat, but he didn't want to do that. Not yet, anyway.

Aether used his Flamethrower move and baked Nighvern in a cloak of flames, who shrugged it off and continued flying after Aether. He tried his Smokescreen move next and tried to cloud Nighvern's vision, but that didn't work, either. Apparently, Nighvern had a sort of enhanced vision that few other Pokemon had. No wonder it was so deadly. Well, that and the fact that it was almost invulnerable.

He dashed forward in a reckless charge and attempted to snatch the Flute from him while he was caught off guard. He punched Nighvern with one hand and reached for the Azure Flute with the other. He might as well have hit a brick wall and reached for a cloud. The hand holding the Flute came forward and knocked Aether into a pool of magma.

Lava and magma didn't hurt Aether so much because he was a Fire-type who had a flame continuously burning on the end of his tail, but it did damage him. He leaped out of it immediately and flew high up into the air. He looked down, then used a Fire Blast move. The star-shaped stream of fire hit Nighvern head-on and actually seemed to cause it pain, but Nighvern returned the favor with a huge beam of black energy. Aether flew out of the way just in time as it razed the wall he was just in front of and left a gaping hole there.

Things were not going well.

--

Gloria's impatience grew bigger and bigger. She had been wandering up and down stone steps, walking around natural hallways, and climbing over boulders for a long length of time. Finally, she could see the final, long stairway that led to the room that supposedly held the stone. Anxious, she scrambled toward it quickly, climbing over rocks and walls. She reached the staircase, ran up it, and stood panting at the top. There was a sign that said, "Warning! Do not remove the Magma Stone! Removal of Magma Stone can cause Stark Mountain to act strangely and make the Monster of the Mountain rampage!"

_Well, that's what I want,_ she thought. She walked forward into the small, circular room and looked at the large, red rock in the center of the floor. The law about not taking the Magma Stone was new, as she recalled. It had only been removed recently, and that was when everyone discovered the effects removing the Magma Stone had. She liked to read, and she was glad she did; it came in handy in situations like these.

She grabbed the stone and pulled. It didn't come out freely, but after a good tug, it popped out. She waited for something to happen.

Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Was there really a "Monster of the Mountain"? Or would it appear so soon? She would wait a long time, but if it didn't show up, she'd take it back to the cave with her. Perhaps it would find her all on its--

A sharp cry made her jump. It sounded metallic, like steel scraping on steel. She looked around the room, afraid for the first time. After a few seconds, a hot red body began creeping out of the shadows. It had cross-shaped metal feet and a steel head, and the rest of its body looked like lava somehow keeping its shape. It roared again; surprisingly high-pitched for something as big as that.

Gloria took her cue, turned, and ran.

--

The fight had been going on for a very long time. Aether was almost positive he wasn't getting the Azure Flute then, and he was thinking of retreating. It would be a smart idea; go heal, find some help, and return. Maybe Nighvern would mistake another mountain for Mt. Coronet. Maybe it would continue wandering around in Stark Mountain. Yes, retreating would be the smart idea.

But he couldn't bring himself to run from Nighvern. He wanted to finish it then. He dodged another stream of dark fire. His energy was depleting rapidly. He didn't think he'd have the strength to fly far from Stark Mountain.

"Aether! Aether!!"

Gloria's voice surprised him. She was supposed to be hiding out in the cave! What was she doing running to him?

"You're not supposed to be down here!" Aether shouted. He noticed Nighvern lunging at him almost too late and jumped out of the way. "I'm thinking of retreating for now!"

"Oh, not you're not! I brought help!"

"Well, where is it?"

"It's chasing me."

_Chasing...?_

That was when he felt the ground shake briefly four times in succession. _Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump._ Like something was running on all fours. Nighvern noticed it, too, and stopped his attack briefly.

A red body came charging into view, coming from a tunnel Gloria had arrived from. It looked like no other Pokemon Aether had ever seen. He knew at first glance that it was a legendary Pokemon. Nighvern seemed to recognize it as one, too, and growled.

"Gloria?" Aether asked. "Is this Pokemon, by any chance, going to fight with me or against us both?"

"I assume either way, it's better than fighting Nighvern alone," she said. She jumped behind a rock for protection and watched the battle.

Aether got ready to battle again and dodged a claw swipe from Nighvern. He was pleased to see a ball of magma hit Nighvern and actually send it flying into a wall. His pleasure faded when another ball of magma was aimed at him.

"Aether!" Gloria shouted. "Try and pin this stone on Nighvern!"

Gloria was holding up a shining red stone. The red legendary Pokemon noticed it as well and moved toward her. Aether flew at her, snatched it quickly, and flew back to the fight. He soared at Nighvern, wedged the rock between the two crests behind its head, and flew away.

The legendary Pokemon was obviously after the stone. It climbed the wall using its cross-shaped feet, then jumped at Nighvern. Nighvern flew out of the way, but couldn't stop itself from being hit by a stream of fire that put anything Aether did to shame. Nighvern roared in pain and flew down some. Aether rammed into him, bit him, and breathed fire into him. It didn't do much, but it distracted him long enough to be hit by the red Pokemon's Iron Head. Aether saw his chance and reached for the Azure Flute. This time, he managed to grab it.

Nighvern was well aware of the fact that it had lost the Flute once again and glared at Aether angrily. Before he could get into any more trouble, he swooped down, grabbed Gloria with his hands, and flew off.

"You'll have to explain later," he said, and aimed for the volcano's crater.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the brief inconvenience of the mysterious repeated first half of the chapter. I'd have fixed it before too many more people could see it, but the document editing thing was acting up and not letting me through. It was probably an unfortunate side-effect of me somehow deleting the second half of the chapter by accident.


	11. Chapter 11: Memories

UMPTEENTH AUTHOR'S NOTE: A reviewer of mine once said that I didn't use many Author's Notes, which was a good thing because they got old after awhile. I apologize for the inconvenience, but this time I really do have an important message to convey.

I've decided to change the future of Bane of Existence. The original premise for the story was simply that Aether flew around with some chick he picked up (alright, it's just Gloria), kicked butt a bunch of times, went straight to Arceus, woke him up, and they killed Nighvern. Fourteen chapters long, pretty straightforward, and not all that spectacular. The story was molded around the action rather than the action around the story. Now, some of you might be thinking, "He took the criticism the wrong way, and now he's lost it! Somebody grab a bucket of water!" But that's not it. I simply pondered about the direction my story was going in and concluded, "Gee, this sucks." After a bit more thinking, I decided what direction I wanted the story to go in. There will also not be a sequel to this, as I had planned, but rather ideas from the sequel (such as Aether finding his human family again) will be implemented here. The result should be a much longer, much deeper, and much more engrossing story filled with more character development and background than it was originally intended for.

To sum it up, you don't know what you would have gotten, you don't want to know, and I hope you enjoy the future of this story.

(cue story)

"Is he following us?" Aether yelled.

"Yup, and he looks ticked off."

"I'll bet. Is he gaining on us?"

"Yeah, pretty quickly. Can you fly any faster?"

They cleared the volcano's summit. "Yeah, but you'll fall off. I can't risk that, not with I'm-Too-Evil-For-My-Britches following us."

"Put it this way," Gloria yelled over the wind. "Would you rather take the chance and live, or stay slow and die for sure?"

Without a word, Aether increased his speed, gradually at first so Gloria would have a chance to hang on tighter. When he felt her arms wrap around his neck, he blasted off at full speed, intentionally shooting embers from his tail in hopes that they would hit Nighvern and slow him down. Every few moments he asked Gloria what Nighvern's status was, and the report was usually not good. He twisted and turned, heading for every obstacle in his way, trying to lose his enemy. If Nighvern didn't avoid it, however, he simply blasted right through it. Aether was the wounded one, and Nighvern hadn't suffered much damage, relatively speaking. Even with all his time as a rescue team leader and the physical training it provided, he didn't know if he'd last long enough to make it to safety. And when he reached safety, would he stay safe?

Pokemon Trainers and hikers down below stared up at them, mouths hanging open. Aether felt like making a sarcastic comment ("Oh, just a rehearsal for a play, pay us no mind"), but knew it'd be lost in the wind. He turned his head and launched a Flamethrower at Nighvern. The flame bounced harmlessly off his scales.

"Nothing affects this guy!" Aether shouted.

He realized he would never be able to outmaneuver his pursuer, no matter how hard he pressed himself. He had to out_smart_ him, but how did he do that? He thought of all his techniques and abilities. The first thing that popped into his mind was Smokescreen, an ability he possessed that spewed smoke from his mouth and blocked the vision of his opponent. He turned his head and blasted a wave of black smoke at Nighvern. When he was thoroughly obscured by it, Aether swerved off his current course, heading into a group of trees. He heard Gloria scream on his back.

"You alright?" he called.

"Yeah, fine. Keep going! He's still following us!"

Thoroughly irritated now, Aether blew another wave of smoke behind him and took a sharp right, going further into the forest. He had to rely solely on Gloria for the status report as he couldn't take his eyes off the trees coming speedily at him. He was barely avoiding them as it was.

"He's still there!" Gloria shouted.

It didn't lose Nighvern, but the Smokescreen tactic at least bought him time. He let loose another one and swerved again, thinking desperately of a new tactic. To his surprise, Gloria's next report was that _Nighvern_ had disappeared.

"Did we lose him?" asked Aether.

"I doubt it. He just didn't come out of the smoke."

Aether turned his head and looked for a brief moment. Nighvern wasn't there. Turning back around, he looked up. The black dragon was flying above him, charging up something from his mouth. Something huge.

"He definitely didn't use that on me in the crater," Aether muttered. "Hang on, Gloria! We're going into evasive maneuvers here!"

"I thought we were already doing evasive maneuvers!"

"Good point!"

The blast from Nighvern's beam was a low hum that seemed to drown out all other sounds. Aether dodged out of the way of the beam, trying to stay as far away from it as possible. The ground erupted into purple light beneath him, blowing apart the terrain. He flew up before he could be annihilated, but Nighvern had been waiting for him. The black dragon tackled into him, flipping him over and over.

Sensing he couldn't escape, Aether instinctively bit into him with fiery fangs and blasted a Flamethrower. Nighvern gouged into his side with his claws, tearing deeper into him. The direct Flamethrower was obviously hurting him, but not in time to save himself. Would Heat Wave save him, perhaps? No, he couldn't risk it targeting Gloria at such close range. The only option left open to him was... _Pure insanity. That might be my demise. I don't see a better option, and pure insanity has saved me before. Oh, boy, I hope this works..._

He charged up every dreg of his remaining power, his body glowing red. He assumed Gloria was still on his back; he couldn't risk her getting in the way of the attack. When his power had peaked and before Nighvern could start tearing into one of his innards, he let loose the Blast Burn, releasing the energy purely in front of him. Nighvern blew off him, roaring and removing his claws from Aether's skin. Aether crashed to the ground, rolling several times before ramming into a tree.

_Gloria!_ he thought. _No way she could have survived that. Oh, man, I must have killed her!_

His awareness was fading. He squinted his eyes, scanning the area. Nighvern had collapsed into a boulder after knocking down several trees. Although he had taken serious damage from the attack, he was still struggling to get to his feet. Aether himself could hardly move. He continued searching for Gloria. He found a limp human lying about seventy feet away. The human moaned and stirred. Aether tried to get up, but using Blast Burn had taken all his energy. All the while, Nighvern was recovering. Gloria had the bag full of items. If she could get over to him, they'd have a shot at living. _Come on, Gloria..._

As his vision continued to blur and fade, the human sat up, cradling her left arm. It must have been broken. She looked around, assessing the situation. After a brief wait, she hurriedly reached into the bag, searching for something. She finally found whatever it was she was looking for - Aether couldn't tell from the distance - and crammed it into her mouth. Slowly standing up, she limped over to him.

"Gloria," Aether whispered.

"What do you need?"

He turned his head slightly. "Do you see that tree branch over there?"

"Yeah," she replied, voice shaking.

"Go get it." Gloria did so and brought it to him. "Hit me over the head with it. Hard." She stared at him with a disbelieving expression. "Do it," he added.

After a moment's hesitation, she brought the tree branch over her head with some difficulty and slammed it down onto Aether's. The Charizard twitched and went unconscious. A few seconds later, a beam of light shot up from him, accompanied by a high-pitched noise. Aether stirred and got to his feet.

"What was that all about?" Gloria asked, more bewildered than before.

"Reviver Seed. Get on my back before Nighvern recovers."

Back underneath the Hallowed Tower, Aether had gone unconscious after using Blast Burn. The Reviver Seed had actually activated then, but his own sheer exhaustion and the aftereffects of using the Blast Burn put him to sleep anyway. Before his exhaustion could take over, Aether had Gloria knock him unconscious, thus activating the Reviver Seed and healing him before he drifted off to sleep and became lost in dreamland, too comfortable to wake up.

Gloria slipped her legs over Aether's back. When he was confident that she was settled in, he took off, feeling significantly healthier and stronger. To his relief, Nighvern was still trying to recover from the close-range Blast Burn.

"Is your arm broken?" Aether asked, not flying too fast in case she couldn't hold on.

"I think so."

Aether gave an exasperated sigh. "We'll have to get that healed soon, but getting away is our first priority. Eating berries doesn't have as big an effect on humans as it does Pokemon, or so I've heard, but you can try that in the meantime. Is Nighvern following us?"

There was a slight pause. "No."

"Great. I'm going to fly as far away from here as possible and find a cave to sleep in. We'll take care of your arm in the morning, alright? Find a human doctor or something."

Silence ensued for most of the journey aside from a few casual status reports which thankfully came up negative. He had finally lost Nighvern, although the risk he had taken to do so was a great one.

All the way to wherever he was headed, he planned for the imminent future. He never planned on taking Gloria to Mt. Coronet with him, and her broken arm especially implied that she stay behind. Besides, who knew what else was wrong with her? He also needed insurance in case Aether...failed in his task on Mt. Coronet. How would Gloria reach - ah, what was his name again? The guy who took care of her? Aether decided he'd ask her when she woke up and when they'd arrived at their shelter for the night. He still didn't know much about human society, so he would ask her what the best method of getting her back home would be as well.

Some time in the middle of the night, they reached a cave somewhere in the middle of Sinnoh; Aether had no clue exactly where, but it was fairly close to Mt. Coronet (surely the huge, rocky wall off in the distance was his destination). He wandered as far back in the cave as he dared and gently nudged Gloria.

"Are we there?" she muttered after a few more nudges.

Aether nodded. "This is where you're staying. You'll have to get off me for tonight."

He lowered himself to the ground and Gloria slipped off, nearly crumpling to the ground from her injuries. Aether took the bag off her shoulder and set it next to his tail, which would serve as a campfire.

"I should have brought marshmallows," Gloria mumbled.

"Sorry, that doesn't fit into My Tail's Terms of Use. No Homemade Charizard-Roasted Marshmallows for you." He laid down with a grunt and stretched. "Is your arm doing any better?"

"No."

"Crap. You'll have to tough it out for tonight. So, I was thinking tomorrow - heck, it might be tomorrow already, but whenever dawn comes - I'd take you to some human doctor and let him or her work on you. After that I was going to go straight to Mt. Coronet, but in case something, you know, goes wrong..."

"If you die," Gloria translated.

He flinched inwardly. "Yeah. If I die, you need a way to get back to your home. What's the name of your guardian again?"

"Greg?"

"Yeah, him. You'll have to go back to him."

Gloria sighed. "I'm not sure I can do that."

"You'll have to."

"No, think about it - if you die, who else is going to stop Nighvern? You can send me back to Razon so I can tell him what's happened. I know full well that if nobody stops Nighvern before he gets to Arceus, it'll be the end of the world, literally. What we really need to do is find a way to get me back to your continent."

What she said made sense. "How'd you get here the first time?"

"I actually took a special boat lent to me by a woman named Cynthia. She a pretty influential person and studies a lot of ancient mythology and whatnot. Are you even aware that your continent is anything but normal?"

Aether laughed a little. "I've seen some pretty crazy things, so yes, I'd have to say it's anything but normal. But elaborate on what you mean."

"There aren't even any humans on this continent that live here," Gloria explained. "Also, these...these 'mystery dungeons'? Some mysterious power is at work in this continent, although I think it affects a few others from what Cynthia told me on the way down. That's what makes the dungeons rearrange themselves for every Pokemon that enters in. The continent is also separated from the rest of the world, and I hear one can only pass between lands by special methods."

"I just flew over the ocean. What's so special about that?"

"Cynthia told me some sort of power akin to the one supporting your continent is needed to travel beyond the continent's 'boundaries.' Otherwise, you'll just wind up going in circles, similar to the irregular nature of the mystery dungeons."

Aether grimaced. "Suddenly you're talking all professionally. It's not like you, Gloria. At any rate, why would I have such a power, and how come you weren't sent back in circles if I have the power?"

"The way Cynthia put it, having the power simply guides you safely out of the boundaries. Anybody with you, since they would also witness the right way out, could pass as well. Or something like that. What she said started making my head hurt."

"You know, you're talking a lot about Cynthia, but what the heck happened to her? Is she tapping her foot impatiently for you to arrive back at her boat?"

Gloria sighed and scooted closer to Aether's tail for warmth. "I told her I could handle myself in the wild, and she believed me. She seems like a rather trusting sort from what little I got to know of her. She also told me that the Pokemon of this continent were generally friendly and receptive, even to outsiders." She paused for a few seconds. "Even though I was just trying to be stupid and independent, it's probably better she didn't give me any escorts. I wouldn't want anybody else to have encountered Nighvern, especially not in the way I did."

Aether grinned. "For once, your stupidity paid off. Let's hear it for a lack of common sense!"

Gloria tried to applaud herself, but thought better of it when her arm pained her. "Anyway, she told me she'd do some research around where we docked and that I could spend plenty of time. She gave me a radio so I could call her, but I lost it in the Lapis Cave. Back to the original subject, I don't know why you'd have such a power. In your past, has there been anything you've done or touched that might do something? An artifact? That's what Cynthia used to get us across. Beats me how she got it."

"I'm a freak of nature, Gloria. I probably got the power simply because I turned into a Pokemon." He thought for a bit. "Well, come to think of it, a strange power _did_ turn me into a Pokemon. Maybe that's the same power that, you know, supports the continent and stuff."

"You'd make the ultimate ambassador, Aether, you know that? Talking to humans and flying between impassable worlds?"

"And now you're using fancy terms. Perfect."

As silence filled the cave, thoughts and questioned popped up in Aether's mind. What was a human's life really like? Would talking to Gloria help him remember?

"So, uh..." he began awkwardly. "Tell me about your past. I mean, well...you know what I mean."

Gloria gave him an understanding gaze. "Let's see...I was born in Blackthorn City, which is a city in Johto, seventeen years ago. I was two when my parents were murdered."

"Murdered?"

"Yeah. Apparently, they were fairly wealthy people, and a couple of guys wanted some of that wealth. I was told they were poisoned to death by a Toxicroak."

Aether had never heard of a Toxicroak, but he guessed it was a dangerous Pokemon. He gnawed on a deeper question in his mind for awhile before asking it. "Do you...miss your parents from time to time?" The question struck closer to home for both of them.

She laughed. "Time to time, yeah. I mean, I don't remember anything about them, so it's kind of hard to get choked up on it. Still, I wonder sometimes what my life would be like if they were still alive. ...At any rate, a close friend of the family's, Greg, offered to adopt me. I've lived with him ever since.

"Greg's a scientist, so he goes around and does a lot of research. Part of his house is transformed into a laboratory. I remember the day he brought home a Moon Stone. I was...six, seven at the time? He went into this long, scientific explanation about it that was _way_ over my head, but I got the impression it was important. That's what sparked my curiosity in stones. One year I actually asked for coal for Christmas. I got it, too."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, a human holiday where people give gifts to each other. I'll explain later. Ever since Greg showed me that Moon Stone, I started collecting rocks, bringing rock after rock to him and asking him if they were special. Most of the time they were just ordinary pebbles. But my lifelong dream is to become a scientist, particularly one that studies rocks. That's why I wanted to go to the Lapis Cave so badly - I'd heard from a few sources that the stones and gems there were beautiful. I looked for a way to there for _years_, giving up hope sometimes, until I finally struck a deal with Cynthia."

Aether searched for another question. The majority of the remaining ones seemed rather embarrassing. "Well, uh...what's typical human life like? What do you do all day?"

"And you're accusing _me_ of being out-of-character. You're the one who's stuttering all of a sudden." Aether grunted. "Well, what's there to say? We wake up in the morning, we eat...the younger ones typically go to school then, and some of the older ones go to work."

"Work? What kinds of jobs do they have?"

Gloria seemed taken aback by every question he asked as if they were stupidly obvious questions that didn't need explaining. "Uh...you know, politicians and architects and dentists and _scientists_..."

"What's a politician?"

The questions continued in a similar manner, Gloria explaining awkwardly at first but later getting accustomed to the situation and detailing casually all her answers. The questions never seemed to stop, and even Aether was embarrassed to hear himself carry on.

"...but most of them are all two-faced money-grubbers," Gloria finished. "I think I've talked long enough. My voice is starting to go hoarse. What about you, Aether? Do you remember anything of your past?"

He shrugged. "Absolutely nothing of my human life. That was totally wiped out when I turned into a Pokemon. I've already told you most of what happened to me after that."

"How do you feel on your rescue missions?"

"How do I feel? What do you mean?"

"What's your take on the missions you're given? What kinds of missions do you receive? Stuff like that."

_I guess it's her turn to ask the awkward questions. It probably feels like revenge to her._ "I got a lot of rescue letters back when the world's balance was screwy," Aether explained. "Now that things have settled down, they're a lot more spaced apart. Mostly they're from Pokemon who got lost somewhere, tried something stupid, or got attacked by delinquent Pokemon. I hate the ones that ask for item deliveries - I call them 'errand boy jobs.' Is it really that hard to waltz down to the local shop, buy an oran berry, and go back home? Why do we have to meet in some stupid dungeon just to deliver a common item? Needless to say, I usually burn those letters unless the reward is really, _really_ handsome."

"How do you get these letters, anyway?"

"Pelipper delivers them."

"How does he get them?"

"Girl, I have asked, and never have they given me a straight answer. Probably more of that 'mysterious power.' Even so, I wish they wouldn't be so cryptic."

Silence filled the cave for a few seconds as Gloria seemed to chew on another question. Finally she said, "Do you ever miss life as a human?"

"It's hard to miss something you never had, or never remember having, at least. I guess it'd be similar to your parents. I don't know what I've missed, but I wonder what it was like sometimes."

"Do you want to go back to that life?"

"Not really. I'm too comfortable here. I was almost sent back to my place as a human, but I changed my mind at the last second. Just couldn't let go of Razon and the others."

They stared at each other for a few moments. Then, returning back to her own unpredictable self, Gloria said, "Good night," and snuggled up in between his wings. Taking the hint, Aether closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep. He'd worry about the dawn when it came.


	12. Chapter 12: The Warring Brothers

Aether opened his eyes and yawned. Morning already? Sunlight poured into the cave. Aether stretched his back and peeked his head out the cave opening. Judging by the position of the sun, it was probably late-morning. He frowned. He hadn't wanted to sleep in that long.

"Awake?" Gloria mumbled from the corner.

"No, I'm just sleepwalking," Aether replied. "Yeah, it's time to go. I didn't want to stay here this long." He walked over to Gloria and sat down. "How was your sleep?"

"Almost nonexistent. The arm kept me up awhile."

Aether sighed. "Well, we're going to get it fixed up today...hopefully. I'm not familiar with human medical practices, so you'll have to give me some help there."

He curled his tail around the supply bag behind him and dragged it closer, careful not to burn it. Gloria pushed herself up with difficulty and brushed the hair out of her face.

"We've got some apples in there," said Aether. "I'd rather you didn't eat any of the seeds, but feel free to munch on the oran berries. You'll need them."

Gloria reached into the bag without a word. Watching her, Aether felt a sense of pity. She came to Aether's world on an innocent expedition, and look where she wound up: far from home, nearly beaten to death by a newly-revived monster, and an arm broken. And through all this, she refused to call it quits and go home. As small and frail as Aether viewed her to be in comparison to him, he developed a lot of respect for her.

"Do you know of any doctors around here?" Aether asked after awhile. "I don't even know where we are - about thirty miles from Mt. Coronet, I guess, eastern side."

"Eastern side?" Gloria repeated. Aether nodded. She took one more bite of the apple she was eating and threw it to the side of the cave. "There's actually someone I know who could help us, and she's supposed to live around here. She works with UPERT - Unstable Pokemon Ecology Research Team. Most people just pronounce it 'yoopert.'"

"UPERT?"

"Yeah. They research and attempt to fix bizarre changes in Pokemon temperament and/or their environment. My friend, Natasha, works in the Health Division. We met in a science camp a couple of years ago. Since we shared much of the same interests, we became friends pretty quickly."

"So this Natasha can patch you up?"

"She's received the training. Also, UPERT itself can probably help us deal with the crazy Pokemon popping up. They research that sort of behavior."

Aether grunted. "Lucky coincidence. They happen to be based right around here?"

Gloria took another apple out of the bag. "Well, _one_ base, really. They're spread out around Sinnoh. Natasha lives just outside Hearthome City, which is where one of the UPERT buildings is. They should be open at this time of day."

Aether reflected on recent events as Gloria finished her breakfast. The 'crazy Pokemon' she'd mentioned were no light matter, especially when they banded together like the Skarmory did near Stark Mountain. He wondered why he and none of his friends ever went bonkers. Maybe UPERT would clear it up.

As soon as Gloria finished the apple, Aether helped her get on his back, made sure they had all their supplies (most importantly the Azure Flute), and took off from the cave. Aether tried to fly high enough to where Gloria could see Hearthome easily.

"Anything?" he called.

"Nothing yet," Gloria responded. "Wait...I think I see a domed building in the distance. See over there?"

Aether looked where she was pointing. To his left, about twenty miles off, a few buildings rose on the horizon, slightly obscured by the distance. One of the buildings had a domed top.

"I see it," muttered Aether. "You're sure it's Hearthome?"

"Positive. No other Sinnoh cities have domed buildings as big as that."

"'Cause if we fly there and you're wrong, I'm going to be highly upset. You're sure?"

"Yes, Aether. If we're this close to Mt. Coronet and there are _no_ other domed buildings around us - " she waved her good arm around in a circle for emphasis - "that would be the logical conclusion. In fact, I don't even see any other cities."

Aether shrugged. He hated being beaten so thoroughly by someone else's logic. "Alright, hang on. We should be there within fifteen minutes."

He flew in the direction of the domed building, slowly increasing his speed. Frequently he asked if Gloria could stand to go a little faster. The answer was yes until they were going so fast they couldn't hear each other.

The terrain passing below them consisted mostly of trees, tall grass, and the occasional pond. A few Pokemon looked up at him as he flew by. To his dismay, one or two of them had that crazed, angry look in their eyes. If this many Pokemon were descending into chaos, it could only mean Nighvern was getting stronger and stronger. Was he so powerful now that many Pokemon in Sinnoh were losing it from the world's unbalance?

_He sure grows quickly,_ Aether thought. _If he somehow steals the Azure Flute and wakes up Arceus before I do, Arceus has no chance against him. The outcome will be painfully obvious, and there may be no stopping Nighvern after that. It seems I've been born into dark times. Then again, that's the whole reason I was born as a Pokemon._

He flew among the tops of the trees so the aforementioned villain couldn't see him from a distance. No Pokemon on the ground below attacked him or gave chase. A thought occurred to him. Perhaps Nighvern's presence increased the agitation of nearby Pokemon. If that was so, it would explain why an entire army of Skarmory had attacked Aether near Stark Mountain but why other locations seemed relatively peaceful.

With the increased speed, they made it to Hearthome City in less than ten minutes. He slowed as they reached the city limits.

"How do you want to do this?" he asked. "Find Natasha's house first? Land by the UPERT building, Charizard and all?"

"Natasha should be working at the UPERT facility," Gloria explained. "If you land with me riding you, people will just assume you're my Pokemon and think nothing of it. Just...don't speak or anything. Charizard don't speak."

"I know." He descended a bit for easier viewing of the city. "Do you know where the facility is?"

"No, we'll have to ask around for that. How about that person right there?" She pointed to a man walking straight in Aether's flight path. "And remember - _you don't say anything._"

Aether gave one last sigh before he temporarily resigned himself to silence. He slowed down even further and lowered himself to the ground.

"Excuse me, sir?" Gloria called.

The man stopped and looked behind him. He wasn't all that surprised to see a girl riding a Charizard, as Gloria had predicted. Aether didn't know many humans, but he assumed the man before him was fully-grown and in the prime of his life.

"Do you live here, sir?" Gloria asked, lowering her voice as they neared him.

The man gave one short nod. "Yup. Need directions?"

"I'm looking for the UPERT building in this city. Do you know where it is?"

The man stepped closer and pointed to Aether's right. "Yeah, you see the Contest Hall way over there? Just continue on the main road. Eventually you'll see a Pokemon Center on the right. Turn right and head past the Pokemon Center. It'll be the big silver building on the left. Can't miss it."

"Alright, thank you!" Gloria yelled. The man smiled and continued his walk.

"That wasn't so hard - "

"Ssh!"

"Oops. Sorry."

Aether took a look at the city around him. The ground was paved with auburn bricks, broken occasionally by blue cement streets. Most of the houses looked...elaborate. Aether was used to the simple huts most Pokemon he knew lived in, and seeing such tall, complex homes surprised him. Most seemed to be highly advanced in terms of technology.

"Alright, let's fly, Aether," said Gloria.

Aether let out a dragon-like growl and took to the air, following the streets according to the young man's directions. They flew above the main road first, carefully staying above homes and power lines. A few people looked up in mild surprise. Aether ignored them, although Gloria waved with her good hand to some of them.

Within a minute, they landed in front of what they guessed was the UPERT building. It was one of the biggest buildings in the city and stretched up for twelve stories. The sides were silver and shiny, reflecting Aether's image back at him. Some employees could be seen working behind the windows. He shifted his focus from the top of the building to the sign in front.

"'UPERT Hearthome Branch,'" Gloria read. "Looks like we're here."

"How's your arm doing?" Aether whispered. Nobody was around to hear him but Gloria.

She sighed. "Hurts as usual, but complaining's not going to help it. Let's go in."

Gloria slid off his back and walked in alongside him. The building's interior was every bit as high-tech as its exterior. The walls and ceiling were made of the same silver material as the outside, but the floor was composed of polished white tiles. Directly in front of them was a semicircular blue counter with two young women dressed in business attire seated behind it. On either side of the counter was a set of metal doors. In the top-right corner of the room was a white staircase leading higher up into the building.

"Excuse me, miss," the woman on the left called, raising her hand, "Charizard are not allowed in the building except under special conditions. Can you please return it to its Poke Ball or have it wait outside?"

"No, I think I'd better be present for this," Aether stated. The woman's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," Gloria added, "but it really is important that he stay with me. We _do_ come here under special conditions." She walked forward, cradling her broken arm. Aether stomped along behind her, cautiously lifting his tail off the floor. "I've broken my arm, but the circumstances didn't...call for immediate medical help. We were being chased by a giant black dragon."

The woman nodded understandingly. Now that Aether was closer, he could see the name written on the gold tab on her chest - Reese Banks. She looked a few years older than Gloria and had her blonde hair tied back into a ponytail.

"If you're looking for medical attention," Reese replied, "you should go to the second floor and ask for one of the doctors. They'll guide you to a room for medical care. It's really a miracle you survived an encounter with the black dragon. We're actually performing research on that subject on the eighth floor."

_Research?_ Aether thought. _I didn't think Nighvern's infamy spread this far. I suppose the "unstable ecology" had to come from somewhere. Enough tracking should eventually lead to Nighvern._

"I've survived two encounters, actually," Gloria pointed out, "although I almost didn't live past the first one. Thanks for your help."

"And, um," Reese continued, "if you wouldn't mind...could you tell me who your friend is?"

"Aether," her friend responded. "How I can speak human language is a different story, and I'm not going into it here. However, any info you can provide on the black dragon would be much appreciated, particularly because I've encountered it _three_ times and nearly lost each time." He inclined his head toward Gloria. "Two of those encounters were with her."

Reese smiled, although she still appeared to be disturbed at the presence of a talking Pokemon. Gloria and Aether walked to one of the metal doors. Gloria hit a button on the side and cradled her arm again. After a few seconds, the doors opened with a chime. The two of them stepped inside what looked like a tiny room. Aether stuffed his large form into the back, flaming tail resting beside Gloria. She hit another button and the doors closed.

"What exactly is this little cabinet of a room?" Aether asked. He received another shock as he felt the room moving up.

"It's called an elevator," Gloria explained. "Modern technology. It's an easier way for humans to move up and down through buildings. We don't have wings, in case you couldn't tell."

Aether grunted. After another short wait, the doors slid back open to reveal a different room altogether. Aether poked his head out of the elevator. It seemed to be some sort of hallway. Strangely enough, the walls and ceiling here weren't silver like the first floor. People dressed in blue clothing and the occasional white coat walked between rooms. A few noticed Aether and frowned.

"Where to?" Aether mumbled.

Gloria took a step outside the elevator and looked down both directions of the hall. On the right was another reception counter. Gloria walked to it quickly. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The receptionist, who was quite a bit older than the two they'd met downstairs, lifted her head. "You'll have to excuse the Charizard, but he needs to be here. I need a doctor who can work on my broken arm, caused by a, uh, wild Pokemon attack. If I can have a woman named Natasha Trident, that would be even better. Sorry I couldn't make an appointment, but these are, well, special conditions."

The receptionist glanced at Aether uncertainly. Evidently, she decided not to protest against it. "Sure thing, honey. Just wait a second, alright?" She pressed a button on the desk (_So many buttons,_ thought Aether) and said, "Natasha Trident, please come to the front desk on floor 2. Thank you." The receptionist voice resounded loudly through the halls. Aether, not expecting it, jumped and looked around the ceiling.

"Just more human technology, Aether," Gloria sighed.

"So," the receptionist began, "what's the nature of your Charizard accompanying you? We normally don't allow certain Pokemon into the premises - I hope you understand."

"Actually, Aether talks," Gloria said bluntly. "He's also pretty intricately woven into the whole black dragon affair. If not for him, the dragon would have killed me some time ago."

The receptionist looked at Aether again. "You talk?" she asked conversationally.

"Quite well," Aether answered.

The receptionist smiled. "That's quite an ability you possess. Very few Pokemon in existence have it. Were you born with the ability to speak human language?"

"Yes and no. It's a long story, but suffice it to say I've had it for as long as I can remember being a Pokemon."

The receptionist raised her eyebrows. She looked like she wanted to say more, but a woman approached them from Aether's left. He glanced at the newcomer, analyzing her. She was a bit taller than Gloria and had waist-length purple hair tied into a ponytail. Her light brown eyes stood out from her pale complexion. She was dressed in the same blue garb as the other workers he'd seen on the floor.

The purple-haired woman paused as she approached them. She stared at Gloria, scanning her face. "Gloria? Is that you?"

Gloria grinned and nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry we have to meet in a less-than-positive manner, but life gets in the way sometimes." She turned and pointed to Aether. "This is essentially my guardian angel, Aether. Aether, this is Natasha Trident, an old friend of mine and a member of UPERT's Health Division."

Aether nodded once in greeting. Natasha waved back, a little mystified at how the Charizard was being treated like a human. Aether decided he wouldn't reveal his ability to speak human language unless he had to. It was funny the first few times, but he knew he'd get tired of it quickly.

"She has a broken arm brought about from a wild Pokemon attack," the receptionist explained.

Natasha nodded. "Okay. Gloria, please come with me."

Gloria turned to Aether. "You won't be gone when I get back from being worked on, will you?"

Aether shook his head. He still wanted to clear up some things about how Gloria was getting back to his continent. Until then, he wouldn't ditch her, even if she was in safe hands.

"Thanks," she smiled. "While I'm being treated, why don't you go see what UPERT has on Nighvern? You can fill me in later."

Giving one final nod, Aether turned and walked back down the hall, heading for the staircase he saw at the end. Although he tried to act casual, feelings of dread and sadness welled up in him. Today he'd awaken Arceus unless Nighvern intervened. If he managed to awaken the sleeping giant, he'd urge Arceus to flee to some hidden spot and wait for his powers to revive before tackling Nighvern with him. Chances are he'd never see Gloria again, although if he survived he desperately wanted to see her one last time. She was the first human he'd ever met and the closest link to his previous life.

He walked up the staircase to the third floor. On the wall to his left before the next staircase was a sign. He stopped and began to read.

_Heh. Looks like my human reading skills haven't been lost either._

The sign contained a list of the floors and their names. Aether started from the top and worked his way down.

_1st Floor - Reception and Information Desk_

_2nd Floor - Medical Treatment_

_3rd Floor - Training Floor (R & D)_

_4th Floor - Training Floor (Medical)_

_5th Floor - Training Floor (Field)_

_6th Floor - Library and Archives_

_7th Floor - Computer and Briefing_

_8th Floor - Research and Development_

_9th Floor - Experimental and Genetic Containment_

_10th Floor - Meeting Room and Office_

_11th Floor - Pokemon Research_

_12th Floor - Pokemon Living Quarters_

_Roof_

Aether looked to his right. A hall led to a larger room with yet another desk. On the other side of the room was a second hall. A group of people, all but one wearing tags, were walking down it at a quick pace. Before they could notice him, he continued up the stairs.

The eighth floor regained the silver walls and ceiling. Through wandering around, Aether learned the floor's halls made a square shape around a large cluster of separate rooms. Most of the people he passed looked as if they were going to report him to some authority. Aether didn't care. He could easily talk his way out of any confrontation.

The next man he passed by received a surprise.

"Yo," Aether greeted.

"Yo," the man returned. He almost walked by Aether before he stopped. "Wait a minute..." The man walked backwards and settled in front of Aether. Compared to the other humans Aether had seen, this man was pretty old. The white lab coat he wore, which matched his unkempt hair, gave him an air of authority. "You're not a human. You're a Pokemon. To the best of my limited knowledge, Pokemon don't typically talk."

"I'm not a typical Pokemon," Aether replied. "I heard research on a black dragon was going on in this floor. Something big is coming up between me and that dragon, and I need all the info I can get."

The old man gave him a puzzled expression. "Big? Like a fight?" Aether sighed and nodded. "This is all a little sudden, but I can't send a Pokemon such as yourself to his death. Besides, think of the potential research lost!" Aether frowned. "Oh, dear, there I go spouting off nonsense again. I can't help it sometimes - discovery of the new and exciting drives my life forward." The man stared up at Aether for a few seconds. He was shorter than the other men Aether had seen; actually, he guessed the man was even shorter than Gloria. "Well, let's not just stand around here. Let's find a nice, quiet room to have ourselves a talk."

He led Aether down the hall and into a room devoid of other people. A large group of chairs sat pointed towards a black chalkboard. The man pulled a chair out for himself and sat down in it.

"I'm sorry I can't offer a chair for you, but you'd probably break it," the man said. "I'm Eric, by the way. Eric Sprout. I'm a professor in the R & D Division. What happens to be your name?"

"My name happens to be Aether. I don't go by any other name."

Eric nodded. "You mentioned something about a black dragon, right? I can't believe you're going off to fight that beast. Alone, or with companions?"

"Well, one companion, hopefully. Otherwise, I'd rather not drag anybody else into this."

Eric leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I don't know who's tagging along with you, but you'd better hope it's Arceus if you want to beat his big bad brother. No one else will do."

Aether blinked in surprise. "You're more informed than I thought."

Eric smiled. "Where do you think the research into Nighvern is stemming from? You're looking at the prime source of info right now." He straightened up in his chair. "I guess I'd better explain my beginnings into UPERT. As a kid, I was always fascinated by the myths and lore my grandfather spun when he came to visit. All the time, I'd pretend I was some scientist or archaeologist on another exciting adventure, uncovering the next big find.

"Until one day, I _did_ become an archaeologist. Well, somewhat - I was seventeen at the time, and I was going along with a group of explorers to search out Turnback Cave, where the legendary Pokemon Giratina is rumored to live." He snorted. "We never found Giratina, and it took us days to find our way back out. Some of the other guys on the expedition lost the courage to explore similar places, but I thought getting lost was all part of the fun.

"Giratina's very existence is considered a mere rumor by the general population, but I felt its presence those days in Turnback Cave. I realized then that every myth has its origins somewhere. With that motivating me, I decided to tackle every myth and legend and dissect what was real from what was fiction. I wouldn't say I ever, well, uncovered the next big find, but my research and exploration has brought much light onto the subjects of legendary Pokemon.

"Eleven years ago, I heard a new organization was being formed. They were calling themselves 'UPERT' and claimed to be devoted to ensuring global stability, especially relating to Pokemon. Knowing their full intentions, I decided my work as a scientist could be put to better use at UPERT and became one of the original members.

"So there you have it - my background. Any questions before I go on? Good, good, let's continue," he pressed on as Aether opened his mouth. Aether sighed and resettled back into his spot.

"My research soon brought me to the legend of the Warring Brothers. I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about." Aether nodded, listening intently. "Arceus being born from an egg and creating Sinnoh is commonly spoken of, but the other half of the story is often buried from fear and ignorance. Nighvern's true origins are unknown. Some say he's the dark, evil half of Arceus torn apart during the strain of creating Sinnoh. Some say something went wrong with Arceus' birth and two beings burst from the same egg." Eric chuckled. "Me, I think there were simply two eggs. My research has yet to confirm any of this, so don't take my word for it.

"At any rate, whereas Arceus drew pleasure from light and creation, Nighvern derived his fun from undoing whatever Arceus made. It seems for awhile they reached a sort of treaty between each other - Nighvern left Arceus' creations alone, and Arceus never asked Nighvern what he was doing.

"It seems a being as inherently destructive as Nighvern could never keep a promise, though. Although Nighvern had been dabbling in a little, eh, 'fun' in secret, he'd never outright rejected Arceus' work. The time came, however, when he simply couldn't restrain himself. Arceus looked at the darkness and sorrow sown by his 'brother' and decided enough was enough."

"You sure use a lot of fancy terms," Aether grunted.

"Thank you. It's almost word-for-word from my research notebook. To continue, Arceus knew the world couldn't thrive with Nighvern still in it and confronted him about his deeds once more. At this stage, it appears as if Nighvern, reveling in his 'joy killings,' was losing the last traces of his sanity. Prior to this, he depended on Arceus somewhat to give him things to destroy, but he now faced his brother with contempt and bloodlust. Their treaty ended that day, and their first battle began."

Eric paused, considering where to go next. "You look like a Charizard that gets around a lot. Have you ever been to the Moon Mountain Range in Kanto?" Aether shook his head. "Really? What about the desert route on Battle Island in northeast Sinnoh?"

"Nope. A little of Sinnoh and my own continent are the only places I've been."

Eric smiled and continued. "I suppose so. The areas I mentioned are known for huge craters, valleys, and strange-looking hills and cliffs. That's because those areas happened to be the sites of fierce battle between Arceus and Nighvern. For your information, the entire Moon Mountain Range is a couple hundred miles across. That's one heck of a battle scene.

"There were a few of these battles, but neither could best the other. In his fading sanity, Nighvern attacked the world's population, destroying entire cities and settlements while Arceus, recovering from his battle scars, could only sense the agony from his domain atop Mt. Coronet. He used his periods of healing to devise an ultimate plan to defeat Nighvern once and for all."

He paused again. A few seconds of silence passed before he closed his eyes and laughed quietly. "Looks like it's time to go off on a tangent again. How much do you know about aura?"

Aether cocked his head. "Aura?"

"I see you're not at all familiar with it. Well, aura is...essentially one's life force. Without it, you're a mindless shell. Most living beings can't use aura at all, not in its pure form, at least. In truth, nearly all Pokemon utilize aura in specialized ways. Your ability to breathe fire, for instance, is the form your aura adheres to. Most Pokemon can't actually _draw out_ their aura outside of whatever limited form it takes the shape of. 'Pure aura,' as I called it, is much more potent than simple Pokemon techniques."

Aether paused while he let the bombardment of information soak in. "Alright, I think I get it. Continue."

Eric cleared his throat. "I think I need a glass of water or something. I'm getting dehydrated. So, aura is powerful energy. Arceus was one of the few Pokemon able to manifest it into physical form. Every second when he wasn't battling Nighvern, he was pouring his aura into an orb. This Aura Bomb was meant to obliterate Nighvern and leave no trace of him behind.

"It became evident, however, that even if he poured his last dregs of aura into the Aura Bomb, it still wouldn't be enough to destroy Nighvern before Nighvern himself destroyed humanity. He summoned his two 'children,' Dialga and Palkia, the bearers of time and space respectively, and had them manifest their aura into the Aura Bomb as well.

"The time came when Nighvern's rampage couldn't be neglected any longer. Taking the Aura Bomb with them, Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia confronted their enemy one last time. To avoid the risk of harming other living beings, they led Nighvern away from wherever he was and to a mostly-uninhabited continent. This continent today is noted for being nearly impossible to reach as a result of some mysterious force."

"Impossible to reach?" Aether interjected. "That sounds a lot like the place I come from. Does the continent have Mystery Dungeons?"

Eric grinned. "So it's rumored. I hope you don't mind, but I'd _really_ love to do some tests on you before you run off. You're a record of information with legs."

The pieces of the puzzle started coming together. Nighvern reappearing in the Lapis Cave, a result of his final battle with Arceus...

"Dialga and Palkia engaged Nighvern first in an attempt to weaken him," Eric went on. "They were mercilessly crushed and tossed aside, but their actions distracted Nighvern long enough for Arceus to deliver the final blow with the Aura Bomb."

Eric put his fingers together and quickly drew his hands apart to symbolize an explosion. "But, sadly, it turned out _not_ to be the final blow. It did not kill Nighvern as Arceus had predicted, although the beast was severely weakened. Enraged, Nighvern attacked Arceus in a frenzy. Aura is magnified by adrenaline, especially anger. You'd think a half-dead black dragon wouldn't be enough to take down a healthy...whatever Arceus is, but that wasn't the case. To prevent Dialga and Palkia from being killed in the ensuing fight, Arceus sent them back to Mt. Coronet.

"The battle raged on. At the end, the brothers were near death, and neither side seemed more likely to win than the other. It was then that Arceus made a risky move; he summoned up all but the last bit of his aura and sent it into Nighvern. He knew the aura wouldn't be enough to kill his foe, so he instead forced Nighvern into sleep. About one inch from death, Arceus collapsed. Palkia sensed his creator's poor state and used his spacial powers to call him back to Mt. Coronet. On Arceus' orders, Dialga and Palkia used their own aura to send him to a sort of small, separate dimension they called the Light Haven. Arceus himself took to sleep, and the bearers of time and space retreated to their own personal, eh, _stasis joints,_ if you want to call them that. Dialga went to the Temporal Haven and Palkia to the Spacial Haven. They've been recovering ever since, waiting for the time when Nighvern will break free.

"The end. Any questions?"

"Only about a million," Aether muttered. "For one, what about the Azure Flute? Isn't that supposed to awaken Arceus or something?"

Eric smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh yes, I left that part out. A portion of Dialga and Palkia's combined powers went into the creation of a certain item, also on Arceus' orders. This item was a mystical blue flute. Its melody would awaken Arceus mid-slumber if the world ever needed him again."

"Then why was it down under the Hallowed Tower?" Aether asked. "I busted my butt trying to get the Azure Flute. The place was infested with Spiritomb!"

"Under the Hallowed Tower, was it?" Eric mumbled, scratching his chin. "I never knew where it was. That part seemed to be intentionally left blank from any and all records left here in this world. My old theory was that Dialga and Palkia would sense a disturbance in our world, leave their Havens, find the Azure Flute, as I'm sure they knew where it was, and awaken Arceus. Why under the Hallowed Tower, I'm not sure."

"Nighvern knew where it was, too," Aether added. "That doesn't make sense if he was snoozing the entire time. Any explanation for that?"

Eric shrugged. "That I don't know, either. I suppose you can very well ask him the next time you meet him."

"I would, but he doesn't speak."

Eric peered at him quizzically. "Doesn't he? All the records I've uncovered indicate he did speak, at least way back then. Perhaps he's in such a feral state from awakening recently that he hasn't regained that ability yet."

"Just to speak?" Aether decided not to press the issue any further. "So what's the deal with 'sleeping,' anyway? Arceus forces Nighvern to sleep, then he hits the sack himself. Why not stay awake? He'd at least be aware when Nighvern returned."

Eric nodded slowly. "Good point. First of all, this 'sleeping' is not like you or I sleep. They don't just, well, hit the sack as you said. It's a forced form of...how can I put this in a way you'd understand? Biological stasis, I suppose."

"No, I don't understand."

Eric sighed. "It allows the body to replenish its aura supply and heal its wounds at the price of consciousness. It also prevents the body from aging or deteriorating. Arceus had himself sealed away into the Light Haven, a place only he could go in and out of."

"Wait," Aether interrupted, "I see two problems there. First, if sleeping replenishes your aura, what's the harm in Nighvern waking him up now? Arceus would be at full power after all these years, wouldn't he? And secondly, if Dialga and Palkia created the Azure Flute, how come only Arceus can reach the Light Haven?"

Eric thought a bit before answering. "Well, it's true that sleeping recovers your aura, but your ability to use it is nearly stripped away. The longer you stay awake, the more your ability to use aura will return to you. The second question is a bit more complex." He readjusted in his seat and bent over. "Dialga and Palkia are Arceus' children in a sense. They have some of his power. They used part of his power to create the Azure Flute. However, since they themselves are not Arceus, they cannot enter Arceus' personal space, the Light Haven, without 'permission' of some sort...like the Azure Flute they themselves crafted. Does that clear it up?"

Aether nodded slowly. "Kinda, yeah. Still a little confusing." He thought over what Eric had told him. "This may not relate to what we were discussing, but what's Giratina? You mentioned something about a Giratina earlier."

"Actually, it _does_ relate to our talk. Arceus is said to be responsible for all beings created except for two and perhaps three. Nighvern was born at the same time Arceus was, and Giratina is actually Nighvern's creation. It's also rumored that the creation of Spiritomb was brought about by Nighvern as well."

Aether gave a small laugh. "Guess Giratina's Dialga and Palkia's cousin, huh?"

"Indeed. Now, we've spoken a lot about what happened to Arceus and his kids, but what of Nighvern, trapped on your continent?" Aether remained silent. "I'm sure you know by now that Nighvern is unnaturally strong. That comes about from his aura, which is different from the aura of other creatures. His is dark, disorderly, chaotic. When Nighvern was sealed away, his aura must have leaked out of his sealed dimension and into the land, transforming it. Arceus is order; Nighvern is chaos. They are polar opposites. Nighvern's aura takes something functional and organized and turns it into something that doesn't make sense. That's how Mystery Dungeons were brought about. In fact, Giratina's resting place, the Distortion World, is like a gigantic Mystery Dungeon. Giratina's aura, which is similar to Nighvern's, took the dismal dimension and made it even loopier."

There was another period of silence. Aether considered his discussion with Gloria the previous night. "You know how I can speak the human language? It's because I myself was a human once." It was Eric's turn to be surprised. His eyes widened slightly and he leaned back. "I don't remember a thing about that life, but the girl I came with, Gloria, says the power supporting my continent is likely the same one that transformed me."

At Eric's request, Aether went into more details about how and why he was changed into a Pokemon. At the end of it, he leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. "Hmm. Only beings and objects with Nighvern's power could logically make it in and out of the island. If you really do house some of Nighvern's aura, that would, in a sense..." He shook his head. "No, just stupid musings. Forget I said anything."

Aether wasn't dissuaded. "If I house Nighvern's aura, that would, in a sense...what?"

Eric sighed. "I guess it's a bad thing to be thinking, but...Giratina has some of Nighvern's aura, too. If you've got that black beast's power as well, it could technically mean you are his second son."


	13. Chapter 13: Change of Plans

A half-smile grew on Aether's face. "Nighvern's second son? Makes me feel honored and disgusted at the same time. Still, his aura's helped me out before, so I can't complain."

Eric raised his hands. "Those are just the insane ramblings of an old man. Don't take it personally."

"I haven't. Actually, I was kinda thinking the same thing."

Aether looked out the glass window into the hallway. "There are still a few things unanswered. For one, _how_ did I get Nighvern's aura? What actually caused me to turn into a Pokemon?"

"Hard to say, youngster," Eric sighed. He crossed his arms and joined Aether in looking out the window. "This Gardevoir you told me about was cursed into separation from her body by a certain Ninetales. And it was she, so you tell me, that found and asked you if you wanted to leave your 'world' and be reborn as a Pokemon to save the planet. Perhaps this has something to do with the nature of Ninetales. Maybe it has to do with one's spirit form..." He descended into thought again. "Well, just more secrets to be revealed in the future. Sorry, but I can't help you there."

A period of silence passed between the two of them as they watched people pass by the window in the hall. Aether stretched and walked to the door. "Thanks for all your help, Eric. As soon as I make sure Gloria can safely get back to my continent, I'm leaving for Mt. Coronet."

"I'm not done yet," Eric muttered, looking at Aether from the corners of his eyes.

_Still?_ Aether groaned inwardly. He turned away from the door and returned Eric's gaze.

"You can't go to Mt. Coronet," said Eric. "Not as you are."

Aether's scowl deepened. "And why is that?"

"You'd be walking straight into Nighvern's hands. He's at the top of Mt. Coronet, after all."

Aether clenched his fists. A dark feeling rose in his gut. "How do you know he's there?"

Eric stood and walked to a cabinet in the corner of the room. He opened a drawer, dug through it, pulled out a disk, and inserted it into a machine above his head.

"There's a reason I went specifically to this room to talk," Eric explained. "Watch the video."

The chalkboard on the wall blinked to life, showing moving images. In the background of the images was a wide mountain. Aether recognized it as Mt. Coronet. He was surprised at the capabilities of the "video" but said nothing.

"We're here outside Hearthome City," a male voice said from the screen. The images shook slightly.

"A man's recording this with a camera," said Eric. Aether didn't know what a camera was, but he didn't ask about it and returned his attention to the video.

"What you see is Mt. Coronet," the voice continued. "I'm sure everyone viewing this knows about the black dragon seen around Sinnoh. That black dragon has just taken up residence on Spear Pillar, which is the top of Mt. Coronet. It's been there for the last twenty hours or so. There it is! There it is! Right there!"

The camera zoomed in at the top of the mountain. Aether didn't see anything at first.

"You see that?" the voice said. "Beside the cliff near the left side of the screen. See the black creature?"

Aether looked where the voice directed him. Something big and black was moving there, turning its head around. Nighvern.

"This dragon has been the source of a few scares around Sinnoh," the voice explained. "We're not sure why it's at Spear Pillar exactly - perhaps just a resting spot. Our researchers at UPERT are working on it."

Nighvern looked in the camera's direction. Something black and purple lit up where his face was. The light shot away from Nighvern and swiftly approached the camera. A humming sound filled the air. Aether growled.

"Whoa!" the voice shouted as the ground erupted in front of him. Dust and debris filled the screen. When the smoke cleared some, Mt. Coronet was sideways. The cameraman had been thrown to the ground from the explosion. "Alright. We're not wanted here. Let's get out of here before it shoots another one!"

Eric strode across the room and turned the video off. "We both know why Nighvern's there. When you go to Spear Pillar to try and awaken Arceus, Nighvern will attack and attempt to steal the Azure Flute from you. At its current power level, you have no chance of success."

Aether couldn't think of anything to say. He considered everything Eric had told him and what the present situation meant. His shoulders sagged. "Then we've lost."

"No, we haven't lost!" Eric countered. "Hope may be faraway, but I assure you there is still hope. I haven't been spending my days since Nighvern awakened being idle, you know." Aether looked him in the eye in silence. "Your first plan was fine enough. And really, we don't need to modify it much. The only thing you need to add is an army."

Aether snorted. "That's the only modification? Gee, such a small change really doesn't affect my plan at all." He stepped closer to Eric. "Where the heck am I supposed to get an army from?"

"The only ones who can stand up to Nighvern - the legendaries themselves."

Aether blinked at him uncertainly. "The legendaries?"

"Yes. Legendary Pokemon. You've met a form of them in the past from what you've told me. You know, Articuno, Zapdos - "

"Yeah, I get it," said Aether. "So I go around, pick up a bunch of legendaries, and use them to kick Nighvern's butt?"

Eric crossed his arms. "Not quite. Alright, what I meant by not needing to modify your plan much was more like combining your plan with mine. Legendary Pokemon are really the only beings capable of standing up to Nighvern. Once you amass a sizeable army of them, you must use them to engage the beast while you awaken Arceus. While they're still fighting, you and Arceus must flee to some hidden, protected place and wait for his power to regenerate. With Arceus at full or near-full power, you reassemble the legendaries and attack again to kill Nighvern for good."

Aether let out a breath of air. "Well, that shouldn't be overly hard. I know where quite a few legendaries are, and I'm on good terms with most of them. I could probably have the army you're talking about gathered in a couple of days."

Eric cocked his head a little to the side. "That's awfully strange coming from one who's only seen a little of Sinnoh. Perhaps the 'quite a few' you're talking about really means only 'a few.'"

Aether shook his head. "I met and fought like a couple dozen of them. None of them were in Sinnoh."

Eric looked around the room, contemplating his next answer. "That's...strange. Even so, there might be an explanation to it. Do you know where I get all this ancient information from?"

"I was about to ask you that."

"Around the age where Arceus clashed with Nighvern, he and his children left records of events. Written in the Pokemon language, of course, which means it took me a long time to translate them. They were quite thorough in their retellings. Most of these records were located in ruins associated with Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia.

"One such record mentions a 'fear' of Arceus'. It appears he left it right before his slumber. He expressed concern that Nighvern's site of sealing - your continent - would be taken over by his dark aura and that the legendary Pokemon would be replicated on that land. In other words, your continent would become a world of its own, a separate dimension. In many ways, it has."

"More storytelling," Aether grumbled. "This is all starting to make my head hurt."

"Oh, just wait, there's much more."

"Why would replicated legendaries be a concern, and how would they get cloned?"

Eric began to pace around the room. "I'm not entirely sure about the first question, though I've got some hypotheses about the second one. Replicated legendary Pokemon...it could be a matter of the world's balance, though that seems unlikely. Perhaps Nighvern would use them as an army against him. But the fact remains that they are _not_ the real deal. They are...Legendary Wraiths. Yes, that seems like a cool name. I think I'll keep it."

Aether, who had been staring back out the window, snapped his attention back to Eric. "The world's balance?" He narrowed his eyes. "Come on. I was hoping I'd never hear about that again. What's the world's balance, anyway?"

Eric sighed. "You ask a lot of questions."

"I want a lot of answers."

Eric cleared his throat and spoke as if reading from a textbook. "The world's balance is, in essence, a name given to the factor that affects most Pokemon. Pokemon are highly attuned to this factor, and significant changes made in their environment have a tendency to make them behave strangely."

"I'm still not understanding."

"Alright, let's take it step by step. The world's balance is like an unseen spiritual force supporting the world. Humans are barely, if at all, attuned to the world's balance. It doesn't affect them. Pokemon are built differently, and when the world's balance becomes _unbalanced_, their psyche changes, usually negatively. Their own sanity erodes, and they become feral, bestial creatures bent on warring with each other.

"The world's balance is screwed up when major changes happen for the worse. A great, evil beast like Nighvern awakening back into the world, for instance, throws the world's balance out of order. As a result, some Pokemon go bananas. In general, only nearby Pokemon are heavily affected. It also seems that more-civilized Pokemon are much less likely to go bonkers than ones fending for themselves out in the wild.

"UPERT was actually founded to prevent the world's balance from becoming disrupted. That's why I joined in the first place. Legendary Pokemon are often tied inseparably to the world's balance, and my intimate knowledge is crucial to protecting the peace.

"So, back to the original point. The existence of two of each legendary Pokemon may possibly throw the world's balance out of whack, but seeing as nothing's happened yet as a result, I doubt that's the case. How they're cloned...well, legendaries are made of different stuff than ordinary Pokemon. They're special creations of Arceus, and for the most part, there's only one of each...Legendary Wraiths aside. They're a natural part of the world. If a new 'world' is formed, it's possible new legendaries would form with it. It's also possible - though far from proven - that Nighvern took in some of Arceus's aura during their final fight, and that aura leaked into your continent and created Legendary Wraiths."

The two stared at each other while Aether attempted to digest everything he'd been told. "Right," Aether began. "So Nighvern is at Mt. Coronet, and leaving for Spear Pillar with the Azure Flute would essentially doom the entire world to annihilation. In order to have a shot at saving the planet, I need a 'sizeable army' of legendary Pokemon - the real deal - to combat Nighvern while I go and awaken Arceus. I flee with Arceus, wait for his power to regenerate, and face Nighvern again."

Eric nodded. "Very good. You _have_ been keeping up."

Aether groaned. "How long is that going to take me, weeks? I don't even know where to start. By that time, Nighvern should have most of his power back."

Eric shook his head. "Nope. He'll have _all_ of it. You'll be facing a full-power Nighvern, which was more than even Arceus could handle." He walked past Aether and patted him on the shoulder. "Looks like you've got quite an ordeal staring you in the face. Good luck."

Aether looked over his shoulder. "'Good luck'? What, you just expect me to fly off and recruit all these legendary Pokemon by myself?"

The scientist paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Of course not. I was just leaving to work out the details of the plan. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the Nighvern problem, but not _that_ much time." He opened the door and stepped out of the room. "In the meantime, I would suggest you pay a visit to the girl you arrived with and think about your imminent future yourself. In all honesty, I'd love to do some tests on you, but that is entirely up to you." He began to close the door, then quickly reopened it. "Oh, and I'll see to it that you can roam the halls freely. Don't worry about that." He gave a short nod and closed the door.

Aether remained standing in the room, too stunned to move. He was not easily rattled, but the sudden torrent of information had disturbed him. While he was a little grateful he would not have to face Nighvern that day, he was bothered to have his already complicated plan take a strange turn. Was he really about to spend weeks flying between continents and recruiting legendary Pokemon? To add insult to injury, most legendaries he knew were highly violent and preferred roasting their visitors before asking them what they were doing.

He shook the melancholy feeling off. _Gloria should know about all this._ He turned, opened the door, and left the room, heading for the second floor. He would go talk to Eric later.

He received more strange glances from the workers as he descended the stairs. According to Eric, none of them would attempt to capture him or throw him out of the building. With this in mind, he thoroughly ignored them and continued on his way.

After asking the second floor receptionist for directions, he walked down the halls and found his way into Gloria's room. The room wasn't very large and consisted of a metal table in the center with a plethora of shelves and machines scattered around. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all pure white, just like the hallways outside. Gloria was sitting on the table being tended to by Natasha and a Blissey. They looked at him as he entered in.

"Hello," the Blissey greeted. Aether gave a nod in response.

"So how'd it go?" Gloria asked. She winced in pain as Natasha rubbed something onto her broken arm.

Aether shrugged. "Learned a lot of stuff. We've got a serious change of plans, and it's going to take a lot longer than a few minutes to sort out."

Natasha blinked in surprise. Gloria looked at her and grinned. "Told you so, didn't I?" She turned back to Aether. "Well, we've got time. What happened?"

Aether went over a shortened version of his conversation with Eric, leaving out most of Nighvern's history aside from what she needed to know. Natasha tried to keep her attention on Gloria, although it was clear she was interested.

He came to the end of his briefing. "To have the smallest hope of waking up Arceus and continuing with my original plan, I have to travel across a bunch of continents and get some legendary Pokemon to join us in our fight against Nighvern, and you know what legendaries are like from my stories."

Natasha stood up and grabbed another item from one of the shelves. "So, um...all that really happened? Turning into a Pokemon, and..."

"Yep," Aether replied. "That's how I can speak your language." He watched Natasha work on Gloria's arm for a bit. "I thought I heard that other Pokemon sometimes speak human language, too. That true?"

Natasha nodded, attention still focused on Gloria. "It's rare, and nobody's quite sure how or why it happens. Some Pokemon appear to teach it to themselves - usually ones with telepathy or more...understanding toward humans. Lucario and Chatot fit into that category." The only mention Aether had heard of a Lucario was through Alakazam telling him of one that led a legendary rescue team. He had no idea what a Chatot was. "And then there's the rare sort that seems to be born with the ability," Natasha continued. "Researchers developed probably dozens of theories and hypotheses about how that happens, but it doesn't seem like anybody's gotten any closer to the truth. In your case, of course..."

"Yeah." Looking behind him to make sure he didn't squash anything, he sat down on the floor. The previous days' activities had tired his muscles quite a bit. "How soon do you think you can finish up on Gloria?"

"Probably within the next...thirty minutes or so," Natasha guessed. "Having Blissey around really speeds up the process."

"Happy to help!" Blissey chimed. The humans only heard high-pitched squeaking.

"With our current technology," Natasha continued, looking at Gloria, "your arm should completely heal in two to three weeks. I wouldn't suggest riding Aether until further notice. Coming here the way you did was risky enough."

"I know," Gloria muttered. "It beat walking. Time was of the essence, anyway." She glanced at Aether. "Although, according to...was his name Aaron?"

"Eric. Eric Sprout."

"Yeah. According to him, our speed didn't make much of a difference. Our mutual evil friend got there far ahead of us."

Aether snorted. "You're beginning to talk more like me."

Both girls laughed. "Actually," said Natasha, "she's talked like that as long as I've known her."

"Yeah, it's not just something you brought on," Gloria added. "I'm weird and proud of it."

"Oh, there's no question that you're weird," Aether muttered.

They made small talk for the next thirty minutes, though Aether was content to just sit and watch the proceedings. He was interested in the relationship between Natasha and the Blissey. He'd heard from Gloria about how humans and Pokemon often worked together, but now he was seeing it for himself. He also took mental notes on human technology and culture. It was much more advanced than anything on his continent.

By the end of the procedure, Gloria's arm was in a sling and hanging in front of her. Natasha leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Alright, there you go. You're all finished for now, though I don't recommend you go wandering off anywhere. We can lend you one of the hospital beds to stay in, if that's alright with you."

Gloria gingerly slid off the table. "Well, perhaps I'd rather stay in a cold, hard cave. They _do_ have lots of rocks in there." Natasha stared at her uncomprehendingly. Gloria laughed. "I'm joking. Yes, I'd love to stay here for the time being."

Natasha smiled. "That's just the kind of thing you _would_ say."

"Sometimes I think her _head's_ full of rocks," Aether grunted, nudging her with his snout. Gloria thrust her hip at him in response.

"Well," said Natasha, "how about I go and set up a room for you to stay in, Gloria? There's also a living quarters for Pokemon on the twelfth floor where you can stay, Aether. Would you like to do that?"

Aether thought about it for a bit. Living among humans besides Gloria was not something he was used to. "Yeah," he responded after some hesitation. "Probably better that way. It's not just a small cage with some straw, is it?"

Natasha laughed. "No. They're called 'Environmental Projection Areas.' They're virtual realities that create comfortable environments for the Pokemon living in them. It's based off of the same technology found in Poke Balls, actually." She stood up and walked for the exit, Blissey following her. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to set up the rooms, okay?"

Gloria nodded and seated herself back on the metal table. Natasha turned the corner and disappeared from view.

Aether glanced at Gloria. "How's your arm doing?"

She shrugged. "Feels better. Natasha put some stuff on it to make it hurt less. I'm kinda sorry I'll miss out on the action. You know, with the legendaries and all."

"I'm not going on vacation. Other Pokemon say I'm an above-average fighter, but handling a legendary Pokemon by my lonesome is still a daunting task."

"I'm sure they'll find somebody to go with you," Gloria assured him.

Aether looked out the door. "I know exactly who I want to fight by my side, but he's an ocean away and can't just fly across like I can."

"Razon?"

"Yeah. To be honest, the guy's a little thick in the head sometimes, but he knows me better than anybody else. He knows my strengths, weaknesses, and strategies, and he's a good fighter himself. I'm just not sure if I'll have the time to figure out a way to get him over here."

Gloria hopped off the table and sat down beside him. "Don't worry. I'm sure with modern technology, we'll find a way to get him across the ocean."

Aether looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"It's called sidling up to you. It's supposed to make you feel better. Is it working?"

Aether didn't respond, but his smile told her what he was thinking. He extended his left wing and pulled her closer. "So, how'd you meet Natasha? I heard something about meeting at a science convention. Or something."

"It was a science camp, not a science convention," Gloria pointed out. She closed her eyes for a second and swallowed. "Two years ago, when I was fifteen, there was a science camp in Pewter City. That's a place in Kanto, not Johto. The two continents border each other. The camp focused specifically on explorers, archaeologists, and anybody studying rocks and minerals. Remember my parents were fairly wealthy, so I still had a good bit of money on me. Greg agreed to let me go, so off I went.

"The camp was to last exactly a week, and I had fun all the way through. I learned a lot of things on that camp. For instance, did you know that Veilstone..." She cleared her throat and broke off her sentence. "Well anyway, they had us do hands-on experiments and take notes during lectures. My partner during most of my experiments, of course..."

"Was Natasha," Aether finished.

"No. Stop interrupting."

"I only interrupted once," Aether grumbled.

"Now you've interrupted twice. My partner was a guy named Benjamin Wernert. I became friends with him and got his phone number. We still keep in touch. He was kinda cute, actually." Aether rolled his eyes. Gloria ignored him. "Natasha sat behind me. We got to talking once, and we realized we had quite a bit in common. Both of us wanted to pursue careers that at least involved science - even at that time, she wanted to be a nurse in UPERT. She was interested in rocks, though not to the degree I am. She lives nearby mountains - at the time, she lived right in Pewter City, which is near Mt. Moon, and now she lives in Hearthome, beside Mt. Coronet."

"I hate to interrupt again," Aether lied, "but you lived by mountains, too?"

"Mahogany Town. That's where Greg lives. It's near Mt. Mortar." She tugged on Aether's wing membrane to keep her hands occupied. "In short, we became friends, and I got her phone number. We wrote and talked to each other a lot. It was pretty cool, having a friend a few years older than you are. You get a heads-up on what life can throw your way."

Aether wanted to ask more, but Eric's voice sounded across the hallways, electronically amplified. "Excuse me, could a creepy talking Charizard by the name of Aether make his way to the briefing room of the seventh floor? I repeat, could a creepy talking - "

"Whatever!" Aether shouted. Gloria covered her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh. "Looks like I'm out of here again. You should stay here and wait for Natasha to come back."

He retracted his wing, stood up, and stomped out of the room. Every time a passerby looked at him, he would respond with a look that said, _Yeah, I'm the creepy talking Charizard. You got a problem with that?_

He came to the top of the stairs on the seventh floor. Desks, square machines with images on them, and people in chairs filled the room. Aether guessed the machines were the computers the floor guide had mentioned. Charts and maps lined the walls. To his left was a door with a plaque reading "Briefing Room" above it. He walked past the desks and opened the briefing room door, poking his head in. Eric was already in there, sitting behind a wooden table.

"There you are," the old scientist said, his lips curving into a small smile. "Come on in."

The briefing room had only one wide window looking out into the streets of Hearthome below. A screen like the one he'd first talked to Eric in hung on the wall to his right. A large map laid on top of the table in the center of the room. Aether noticed what looked like a short, wide wooden stool beside the table.

"I actually got a chair for you this time," said Eric, gesturing to the stool. Aether sat down in it and put his hands on his knees. "I've got most of the details worked out now. You can glance at the map if you like, but I'll mostly go over this by way of slideshow."

Eric turned in his seat, held up a small device in his hand, and pressed a button on it. The screen blinked to life, casting the somewhat dim room in light. The image of a map appeared on it, similar to the one on the table.

"This is a map of our part of the world," Eric explained. "The continent on the northern part of the screen is Sinnoh. Your continent is...somewhere off to the west." A small red dot stemming from Eric's handheld device appeared on the screen and circled a portion of the map. "Few people, if any, have actually made it in and out of your continent's borders, so it doesn't show up on any maps. You know, Gloria could really go down in history for being one of the only humans to make it over there."

"She told me she went through a lot to get there," said Aether. "At first, she told me she'd come alone, but I later learned she arrived with someone named Cynthia. I suspect she was just trying to protect her - she'd just woken up to find a talking Charizard."

Eric nodded. "At any rate, my plan is fairly simple, yet very organized. I propose you start your legendary search in Sinnoh for two reasons. One, you're right here. Two, this is where you'll find Dialga and Palkia. Creating the Aura Bomb, or some form of it, is imperative to your success. They should also have some info on Nighvern as they once battled him."

The slide changed to an up-close map of Sinnoh. Eric shone the red dot on the screen again, pointing to various places. "The only known way of forcefully ripping the titans from their resting places or dropping yourself in there is by crafting an artifact known as the Red Chain. Unfortunately, their Havens are also located on Spear Pillar, and we both know what nasty beast is waiting for you there." Aether nodded. "We'll keep the Azure Flute here, so even if Nighvern does leap on you and tear you to little bitty pieces, he at least doesn't have the key to the Light Haven."

"Thanks for the sentiments," Aether mumbled.

"The Red Chain is only created when a certain three legendary Pokemon combine their auras. Think of the Red Chain like the baby version of the Azure Flute. The Red Chain opens the paths to the Temporal and Spacial Havens, just as the big daddy, the Azure Flute, opens the way to the Light Haven. You have to be careful when using it - drawing out both Dialga and Palkia at once can invite other unwanted monsters to the scene. We had a little scare with that some years ago.

"The three Pokemon you need to find for the Red Chain are Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Each one dwells at the bottom of a lake in Sinnoh. We've already developed a serum that'll resist the effects of water on your fiery nature and your respiration so you can dive down to the bottom of the lake. You'll have to take the serum with you, and make sure the containers don't break. You don't currently have a human who can ride with you and carry your serums and whatnot."

"Serums?" Aether repeated. "There's more than one?"

"Over time, hopefully," Eric sighed. "We're working on one directly for this kind of mission. We're calling it the Lullaby, which is an enhanced form of the Ragekiller. The Ragekiller is designed to calm ordinary Pokemon who have been maddened by the world's screwy balance. Legendary Pokemon are made of tougher stuff, and we're almost positive we need something stronger than the Ragekiller to calm them. In other words, expect to fight good and hard to make them regain their senses. That's one nearly-guaranteed way to calm them.

"That, in fact, is why you need a human with you. Someone who can carry the Lullaby and inject it into the legendary Pokemon without getting too involved with the fighting. Sadly, Gloria will be unavailable for some time, and we can't find a suitable replacement quickly enough.

"So," Eric continued, "your first stop is Lake Valor in the eastern half of Sinnoh. This is where Azelf, the Being of Willpower, sleeps. From there, you'll head to the very western side of the continent and meet Mesprit at Lake Verity. Once you recruit that legendary, your next stop is north in snow country, where Uxie rests in Lake Acuity. If all goes well, this shouldn't take more than a few days.

"With those three on our side, you'll return here to the UPERT Hearthome Branch. Once the Red Chain is created, you'll cautiously go to Spear Pillar and enter one of the Havens, then the other. Talk Palkia into warping you to safety the moment you get back into our dimension. With them recruited, return here. Got this so far?"

Aether grunted in affirmation. "Fly around to three lakes, recruit the legendary Pokemon living there. When they give me the Red Chain, I go to Spear Pillar, get Dialga and Palkia to join us, and come back to Hearthome."

Eric grinned. "That sums it up. Now, all three of the _legendary pixies_, if you will, is a Psychic-type." The slide changed again to show a small, gray, two-tailed creature with a blue head and yellow eyes. "This is Azelf. Azelf is the more offensive of the three, so don't get hit by any of its attacks or it's going to hurt. That's assuming it actually attacks you, of course. As the Being of Willpower, I doubt it's lost its head."

He pressed a button on the device again, and the picture changed to show another two-tailed creature with a red head. "This is Mesprit, the Being of Emotion. It's pretty balanced in terms of defense and offense, so it shouldn't be anything you can't handle."

The slide changed again to show a third creature with a yellow turban-like head and closed eyes. "Now this is the one you'll really want to watch out for. Uxie, the Being of Knowledge. It's said to be more defensive than the other two and will thus take more of a beating before it goes down. That's not the scary part, though. Supposedly, Uxie's eyes are always closed. However, on the rare chance it opens its eyes and you look into them, your memory goes _poof_ and disappears. Every last bit of it."

Aether snorted. "Well, I've already had my memory erased once. I don't want to experience it again, though."

Eric nodded and changed the slide to a picture of Eric in his swimming trunks standing on a beach with a fishing pole. "This is, uh..." He narrowed his eyes. "How did that get in there?" He pressed the button again. Eric was now holding a Magikarp from the end of his rod. He glanced at Aether, who was staring back, and hit the button again. Eric was standing in a garden and holding a young blonde-haired girl in his arms.

"My granddaughter," he explained. "She's such a sweetie. Look at those dimples." He shone the red light around the girl's cheeks.

"Can we please get back to saving the world?" Aether said flatly.

Eric cleared his throat and quickly skipped through a sequence of pictures. A few seconds later, he arrived at a picture of a towering Pokemon with a blue, metallic body standing on four legs, silver spikes lining its hide. "Dialga, right," he murmured. "Not a whole lot is known about this Pokemon, aside from it being a Steel/Dragon-type. It uses a unique move called Roar of Time, which is extremely wide-ranged and powerful, but leaves it stunned a bit after using it. I don't think it's very fast, though."

The slide changed to a pinkish-white Pokemon standing on two legs. A couple of round shoulder pads covered its shoulders. Overall, this Pokemon looked more "streamlined" than Dialga. "This is Palkia," said Eric. "I think Palkia, if it fights back, will give you a lot of trouble. It's a Water/Dragon-type, and you don't fare well against either element. Its own signature move, Spacial Rend, is hard to avoid and, if it hits you right, can be devastatingly powerful."

He changed the slide back to the world map. "I don't have the entire order of legendaries figured out, but I'll work on it while you're off finding the legendary pixies. I'm thinking, though, that after hitting Sinnoh, you'll go south to Johto, somehow get Lugia and Ho-Oh if it's possible, and then raid Kanto of all four legendaries it possesses. We'll see who time permits you to recruit after that. It may be that Nighvern will grow powerful enough to harass the world even while remaining on Mt. Coronet."

Aether rubbed his eyes. "And how long is that going to take me?"

"Oh, a few weeks or so if you move quickly. I would almost guarantee you longer than a month. In that time, yes, Nighvern will reach his full power. We'll try and cut the time down by finding you allies to split up and recruit the other legendaries. That requires another human, of course. Humans will be helpful in this mission. Not only can they carry supplies, but they can contact each other electronically and gather information from locals. Don't think you can just fly off and do this with only you and some other Pokemon."

"I've got an opinion as to who I'd like for my allies," said Aether, sitting up straighter. "I've got some friends back in my continent who would be a really big help. While I'm flying around picking up pixies, you could research how to get...about four Pokemon of moderate to large size from my continent to this building."

"Will do. The gears in my brain are already turning."

Aether looked out the window. A blue sky, calling to him to once again leave his comfort and go to faraway places... "When do I leave?"

"I suggest tomorrow. You need time to rest and prepare. We'll give you a few gadgets and doohickeys before you go, so don't run off without saying goodbye."

_Why can't anything these days just be simple?_ thought Aether. _There are still too many unresolved mysteries and too many sudden plot twists. I thought I was going to be done with this soon, but that obviously isn't happening. I can hardly wrap my brain around what's going on._ He gave a short, dark laugh in his mind. _Funny. For the first time in ages, I really don't know what to think anymore._


	14. Chapter 14: Willpower

Aether surveyed the lake with interest. If his information was correct, his first target was in a cave far underneath the surface. Then again, "target" made it sound like he was going to assassinate somebody. He wasn't here to kill him, he was here to get his help. Aether shook his head. Why was he being so picky with words all of a sudden? Maybe it had something to do with that imaginary Gloria sitting on his back, chastising his word choice.

Azelf was the Being of Willpower. Maybe that was why the surface of the lake was so calm. Aether expected to see at least the ripple of some water bug at some point, but nothing broke the water's peace. Actually, with Aether's luck, he expected a giant Gyarados to randomly lunge out and blast a Hyper Beam at him.

The lake was almost perfectly square and stretched on for about a thousand feet in all four directions. Trees and reeds hemmed it in, giving it an isolated feel, like it was closed off from the rest of the world. Aside from the aquatic plants at the lake's edges, there wasn't a single thing protruding from the surface of the water. As a result of all this peace and calm, the loudest thing Aether heard was the crackling fire on his tail.

He remembered how the previous day had gone. In less than an hour, his simple plan had become a lot more complicated. He was somewhat grateful; beating Nighvern at his level seemed like a hopeless task. Still, he wasn't looking forward to spending weeks flying around the countryside and attempting to recruit Beam-of-Ultimate-Death-and-Annihilation-happy monsters of Pokemon.

After his second talk with Eric, Natasha had shown him his "room." With pools of lava and a bed of burning coal in the center, it was paradise to him. The environment looked and felt so real that he had to remind himself it was all just an illusion. The rest of the day was spent either talking with Gloria or exploring the facility. Eric had already gone over so many guidelines and points of advice that Aether had honestly considering puking up a fireball right there on the table to show his distaste. To his benefit, he had resisted the urge.

Before he had gone to bed, some of the UPERT staff had given him various medicines to heal him and ease his soreness. When he woke up the next day - which would be today - his achiness was mostly gone. As the sun rose, he had met with Eric, who gave him a bunch of fragile junk he was told not to break. That seemed impossible, given the situation, but Aether told him he'd do his best.

Shortly thereafter, Aether had found himself once again flying over the countryside. Lake Valor was southeast of the UPERT building and hadn't taken him more than forty-five minutes to an hour to fly to. The scenery was much the same as it had been - patches of dull green trees with sandy roads cutting away nature every once in awhile. To the south was what looked like a vast swamp. Aether decided he didn't want to go there.

Strapped to his left leg was a pouch with syringes. The syringes had been packed in such a way to prevent much rattling around, but Aether knew it would still be easy to break one, especially if he got into a fight. Three of them were filled with light purple liquid. Ragekiller. If Azelf decided he wanted to kill himself a talking Charizard, Aether could simply reach into the pouch, grab the Ragekiller, and stab it into Azelf. According to Eric, it would work regardless of where in the body it was injected. That was assuming it worked on legendary Pokemon at all.

The other three syringes in Aether's pouch were dark blue. He pulled one out and looked at it, swirling the contents around. Eric had called it Bluediver. Supposedly, once he injected himself with it, he'd be able to swim around easier under the water. Water didn't agree with Aether's fiery aura, and he didn't know how far down the underwater cave was. If it was too far down, the pressure would crush him. The Bluediver would insure against that, too. Finally, it would help him hold his breath longer.

He held the Bluediver up higher and placed his thumb on the pushing end of it. He remembered Eric's instructions on how to use it: _Oh, just stick it in your neck somewhere and push. It works better if it hits your neck._ Sighing, he jabbed the needle in his neck and injected the Bluediver into his system. He removed the syringe and set it back in his pouch. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then a numbing sensation slowly spread from his head down. Aether tapped his left forearm. The touch was dulled a bit. Hoping the Bluediver had been thoroughly tested, he dove into the water.

He expected the water to be a little chilly, but to his surprise, he couldn't feel a temperature at all. It was probably the effects of the Bluediver. The fire on his tail grew a little fainter but otherwise remained normal. Typically, the flame on his tail would just sputter smoke if it was completely submerged. If it stayed that way too long, he'd be sick for the next few days.

The farther down Aether swam, the more something appeared through the cloudy water. It looked like a huge boulder at the bottom of the lake. As he got closer, he noticed an opening at the bottom of one of the sides. Suddenly, he wondered if the cave itself was filled with water. If that was the case, he didn't know how long he could hold his breath. Had Eric thought of that? _If I drown here because of you, Eric...I guess I'll...hope you feel bad..._ He couldn't think of anything better if he was dead.

He swam through the opening, which quickly led to a dead end. Looking up, he noticed the water led up a stone shaft, taking him up the cave. He swam through it, conscious of his dwindling supply of oxygen.

A few seconds later, he burst through the surface of the water, not even realizing the end of the shaft was there. When he had steadied himself, he looked around. It was pitch black. He slowly crawled out of the pool of water and stood up. His tail fire had regained its usual brightness. He moved it in front of him, illuminating a small part of the cave. He couldn't see beyond about fifteen feet.

He wondered why the inside of the cave itself wasn't underwater. He didn't know much about the nature of water, but he knew it would certainly fill up a cave like this. Not that he was complaining - if it wasn't empty, he'd probably be dead. Azelf must have done something with it.

As far as he could see, there was nothing remarkable about the cave. A few puddles dotted the floor, and the ground was uneven and bumpy. Aside from that, nothing seemed to distinguish the cave. A few drops of water fell from the ceiling, breaking the silence from time to time.

"What are you doing here?" a quiet voice asked.

Aether maneuvered his tail around, trying to see where the voice had come from. Just more empty cave.

"How did you get here?" the voice demanded.

The voice was definitely male, but it had a silent, almost whisper-like quality to it, as if the bearer rarely spoke. Aether guessed the thing wouldn't show himself if Aether refused to answer him.

"I'm Aether," he replied. "I stabbed a sharp object into my neck so I could swim down here without being crushed or running out of oxygen. I need to talk to Azelf. Are you him?"

There was a pause. "A sharp object?" the voice muttered. "How would a... What kind of object is this?"

Aether sighed. "You know, a needle. A syringe."

"A syringe? What is that?"

"It contains liquids that... Oh, what does it matter! The point is, I'm here, and I need to talk to Azelf. It's important."

The voice started to speak a couple of times as if it didn't want to let the subject go. After a few seconds, he said, "Well, what would you want with Azelf if you saw him? He does not show himself to anyone who asks."

"It's about the world's balance." Aether gave up trying to find the source of the voice. "A big, evil Pokemon called Nighvern has been reborn into the world, screwing up the world's balance, and as usual, I'm the one tasked to save it. Pokemon are losing their heads everywhere, and the only way we can stop this is by awakening Arceus and recruiting a bunch of other legendary Pokemon to defeat Nighvern. I need Azelf's help in creating the Red Chain."

There was a pause. "You know much. The Red Chain is the only way you can enter the domains of Dialga and Palkia. You need my power and that of two others to craft it..." A long period of silence followed. Aether knew what was coming next. "I just blew it, didn't I? No sense in hiding, then."

A patch of darkness in front of Aether twisted, taking on a new shape and coloring itself. When the shift stopped, a small Pokemon floated above the cave floor. It had a blue head with a crest and a silver body. Two tails sprouted underneath it. Its yellow eyes seemed to stare through Aether.

"Azelf," Aether greeted. "Figured as much. Way to go with that 'hidden-and-mysterious' act."

"When one has barely anyone to speak to in eons, one's communication skills can become sloppy." Azelf looked him over. "I cannot simply hand you the Red Chain. Misuse of it can put us all in rather dire straits. Besides, Dialga and Palkia are very...proud Pokemon. They will not take to awakening politely."

"Well, what do I do, then?" grunted Aether. "Get on my knees and beg? Cry? Perform a jig to amuse you?" He glanced at the pool of water behind him. "I told you, the world's balance has been upset. As a legendary Pokemon, I know you can feel it. I understand why you'd be so cautious, but I'm not your enemy. We need Dialga and Palkia's power in the upcoming war, or frankly, we're going to die."

Azelf floated around the cave. Aether got the impression this was pacing without using feet. "I _do_ feel the world's chaos from in here. It's already begun to affect Mesprit, and I wonder how much longer we have until Uxie is consumed as well. It's a strange feeling, being unable to contact Mesprit like I used to. She is the Being of Emotion and thus more vulnerable to the world's changes.

"I was not around for Arceus's climactic battle with Nighvern. My siblings and I are not geared toward fighting. All the same, Arceus created us directly, so we can be counted as his children. I have not spoken or felt the presence of my 'father' for millennia. I wanted to talk to him about the fight with Nighvern, but I knew the only way I could do that was to awaken him from his sleep. For that matter, I've been unable to speak to Dialga or Palkia, my 'big brothers,' either.

"Nevertheless, life in a cave gets boring sometimes, and so I ponder on the world's course. I knew Nighvern would awaken at some point, and when I felt such a lack of order in the world, I suspected the time had come. I wanted to act, but I can't leave this lake rashly. I exist to help life feel willpower and motivation, and my global placement is important for that purpose. All I could do was sit, watch, and wait. Besides, my power is no match for Nighvern's.

"You're right - the only option is awaken Arceus. To do that, we need an object called the Azure Flute. I know where it is, but you must promise not to tell anybody who doesn't need to know."

Aether forced back a smile. "Would its location happen to be underneath something called the Hallowed Tower?"

Azelf frowned, his large eyes creating a somewhat pathetic expression. "Yes. How would you know something like that?"

"A Pokemon called Xatu kinda foretold it to me. I don't know where he gets his knowledge, but I'm grateful for it. I've already gotten the Azure Flute, anyhow."

Azelf resumed his float-pacing. "Strange. I was certain Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Mesprit, Uxie, and I were the only ones aware of its location." He stopped and looked at Aether. "Were you ever told where Xatu got his information from?"

Aether started to shake his head, but a memory returned to him. Xatu had told him where he got his knowledge once before, although it was a vague answer, and Aether wasn't sure how much to believe. "He said...something about staring into the sun giving him answers."

"Ah. Of course."

"Still," Aether continued, "wouldn't staring at the sun all day long, I dunno, melt your eyeballs or something? I can't stand looking at it for more than a second."

"Xatu are born with special abilities that allow them to gaze into bright light unhindered, especially the sun. This prolonged mental state, coupled with their formidable psychic powers, lets them see events occurring anywhere."

Aether considered this for a bit. "So, basically, Xatu turns into a vegetable, and his veggie powers let him peep on pretty much anything under the sun?"

Azelf gave him another confused look. "Of course he doesn't turn into a vegetable. Xatu don't have that kind of power. Where would you get such an idea?"

Aether sighed and slumped his shoulders. "You weren't kidding about the whole 'communication skills' thing." Before Azelf could inquire further, Aether said, "Xatu aside, I already have the Azure Flute, so that's taken care of. The problem is, Nighvern is waiting for me at Mt. Coronet, so by flying there, I'd just walk into his trap. I need to get into the Spacial and Temporal Havens without falling into Nighvern's hands. And so we're back to where we started."

"Hmm." Azelf looked at the floor. The ground beneath him began changing shape, leaving a gaping hole. On closer inspection, it wasn't just a hole; it was a pulsating mixture of lines and colors. Aether saw a lot of blue, pink, and black. The colors would continuously overlap one another, then recede just as quickly. Aether gave Azelf a puzzled look. The fairy-like Pokemon snapped out of his reverie. "It's just an illusion. Don't be alarmed."

"What the heck is it?" Aether asked, taking a step back.

"An image of the dimensional boundaries. I want to see if there's another way into the Temporal and Spacial Havens besides Spear Pillar."

Aether groaned. "Alright, explanation time again. What are the dimensional boundaries, and why would they let us into Dialga and Palkia's pads?"

Azelf returned Aether's exasperated expression. "Sometimes I really wish you had a lot of prior knowledge. Explaining these things takes up a lot of time."

"Well, I got the Azure Flute, didn't I? How much prior knowledge am I supposed to have?"

Azelf nodded. "Our world is composed of many dimensions which exist almost independently of one another. Actions in one dimension usually don't affect events in another. As you can see in the illusion..." He expanded the image so Aether could see better. "...Dimensions themselves look like little more than colorful expanses of goo. You can't see any solid material from here. Each dimension has its physical limits, as ethereal as they may seem. They all connect to each other, forming a sort of sphere. The places where they connect are called dimensional boundaries. Are you following me so far?"

Aether grunted to show he was listening. "The number on my Whacked-Up-Info-Meter has reached about a 9.9. Try to keep it simple." _And please don't ask what a Whacked-Up-Info-Meter is._

To Aether's relief, Azelf didn't. The illusion on the floor rearranged itself to look like a colorful globe. It spun so Aether could see every dimension. "Going further, every dimensional boundary has small points that open directly into another dimension, almost like a doorway. These are called Dimensional Gates. Most of them have never been discovered - I would know if they were. Some, like Turnback Cave, seem to be rather popular.

"At any rate, most dimensions have several Gates that open straight into the adjacent dimensions. If we can find such a Gate, it may take us into Temporal or Spacial Haven _without_ traveling to Mt. Coronet, and thus not risking our necks to Nighvern."

"Hope at last."

"Not much, unfortunately." The image shrunk and returned to its puddle-of-color state. "Finding such a Gate might take ages. I'll do what I can, though." The illusion disappeared. Azelf glanced at Aether. "Well? When shall we leave?"

Aether's face slowly broke into a grin. "So you'll help me?"

"Yes. Sitting here does me no good."

"What about the world's well-being and whatnot?" Aether pointed out. "If you leave Lake Valor, is life just going to turn into one big couch potato?"

"I am not familiar with that expression. However, the world can do without my position for awhile. A full month would pass before the slightest change would take place. In fact, it would probably take years for the world to suffer severe harm. But I will come with you. I can be of more help by your side than by waiting somewhere else."

Aether turned and walked back toward the pool of water. "I'm ready to leave now. Where do you suggest we go?"

Azelf didn't hesitate with his reply. "Lake Verity, in the west. My sister Mesprit is there. Not only is it closer, but...she is losing herself. If we don't hurry, she may become savage like many of the other Pokemon around here."

The Charizard bowed his head. "Got it. Now let's get out of here. We can talk along the way."

Aether dove into the pool. The Bluediver was still in effect, protecting him from the water's harm. Azelf hovered closer to the floor, doubt written on his face. "I hope communication skills aren't too critical in the world outside this cave..."


End file.
